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Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
Camerapersons: Mythreyee Ramesh, Smitha TK
With glimmering lights, and the clink of bangles all around, the bustling city of Hyderabad comes alive in Charminar’s Chudi Bazaar.
The sprightly bangle shopkeepers and stall owners, who line up one after the other, speak in unison when they say – “What Charminar is to Hyderabad, Chudi Bazaar is to Charminar.” They also speak in unison when they speak in support of Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader and the state’s first Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
“Chudi mazaa na degi...kangan mazaa na dega...Tere bagair, Hyderabad mein koi mazaa na dega,” says Mohammed Zameerduddin, who owns three shops and employs more than 30 people. He says that while bangles make the people happy, Hyderabad will be happy only on KCR’s return.
According to Mohammed Asif, a bangle stand owner, KCR deserves a second chance because of the various welfare schemes he has initiated for the people.
The Chudi bazaar is considered one of the largest markets in India and sees at least four thousand tourists every day. While shop owners claim that the election season has reduced their business by 50 percent, they have seen better days.
The bustling market has a different face. While it is solely dependent on women for business, and scores of women are out on the streets buying bangles, the entire market does not have any woman shopkeeper. Notably, the shops also do not employ women.
And when questioned about this peculiarity, some say that those who make these bangles are women (behind the screens, in the confines of their homes), but most others turn rather defiant.
Beyond the glitz of the market and the echos of bangle clinks, is the worried faces of the sellers. From wanting a metro station in Charminar to wanting the barricade in the market area removed, their demands are aplenty.
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