Vasundhra Thursday market- A hidden gem for a complete shopping

Weekly markets are often a matter of excitement wherein dedicated shopaholics wait every week to buy their favourite things. These markets also provide a lot of things for daily home or kitchen use at very affordable prices.  Vasundhara Sector 4 A opposite Kinsfolk Inn Hotels and banquets, is one such market that comes up every Thursday.

Every Thursday afternoon the otherwise sparsely used road located at the backside of the housing societies of Vasundhara sector 4A starts coming alive. within a few minutes stalls are set up, wares are spread out and a buzzing market comes alive. Soon the shoppers start trooping in and bargains are made. The market offers a lot to choose from. The market draws in a good mix of crowd from the neighbouring residential housing societies of Indrapuram, unauthorised colonies and students from nearby educational institutes such as Mewar Law and Management college.

In the times when huge airconditioned malls have come up all over Delhi and NCR these weekly markets have managed to hold their own. Essentially they are urban versions of the traditional forms of weekly haats that come up, even now, all over the country, especially in rural areas. They thrive on the variety and affordability of stuff they offer. Also, they are sort of a one-stop destination where almost all your things of daily needs are available. That is why they are still relevant and are giving a good competition and alternative to the jazzy malls.

The market has a lot to offer from clothes to kitchen essentials, street food and vegetables. The market has several clothing stalls for men, women, and children. Ladies come here for complete shopping and students come to engage in street treats and chunky jewellery. For the ladies, there are multiple choices from western clothes to traditional, jewellery and footwear. There is also a huge stall dedicated only to female cosmetics like lipstick, eyeliners, combs, brushes, hairpins at very affordable prices.

You may have a complaint that many such markets have a lot to offer to women but not enough when it comes to men’s clothing. That’s not the case with this market. The market has a lot to offer in men’s clothing from sweaters, sweat pants to shirts and denim, jackets.

Apart from clothes, there's a huge variety of accessories such as handbags, shoulder bags, jute bags, lunch bags, and shopping bags. “I've been selling these bags for the past 10-15 years. We sell a variety of bags, like lunch bags, baby bags, jute bags, knitted bags, parachute bags, etc. After the pandemic, we have seen a drop in footfall in the market, which is not a good thing for us since this is our livelihood”, says Lokesh Kumar, a 35-year-old, bag stall owner.

The market also has a few stalls dedicated to kids, where you can find all the necessary things from stationery to toys.

There are many foods and snacks stalls present in the market. Sunny Kashyap-Chole Bhature wala is one such popular street food joint in the market. Here you can get a plate of lip-smacking chhole bhature for just Rs 25. “People love our chole-bhature, we have many regular customers and we serve food with love and homemade spices. Our stall has 7 different locations on each day of the week. On Tuesday, we install our stall in Mangal Bazar, Indirapuram, on Wednesday - Mandawali, Delhi,” says Deepak Kumar, younger brother of the owner Sunny Kashyap. Another highlight of the Vasundhra market stalls dealing in Indian snacks suitable to the season. Types of snacks like roasted peanuts, homemade salted bhujia, Kathi bhujia, besan bhujia, stalls of naan-khatai are also present in the market.

In other lanes, you can find carpets, cutlery and pillowcases, and even showpieces.

A huge lane dedicated only to vegetables and fruits is also present in the market itself where you can find fresh fruits and vegetables.

This is the section of the market that draws a lot of customers from the upper-middle-class housing societies of Indrapuram. “We come here for our weekly shopping of groceries, fruits and vegetables. We buy vegetables and fruits for home from here only because fruits and vegetables available here are better and fresh”, Varsha, resident of a society in sector 4 A.