The word bazaar came to us in early 1580s from the Italian word “bazaara”. For centuries, people have used this platform to trade goods and services, without even realizing. And as the World progressed, bazaars evolved with it, improving, expanding and inviting millions of buyers and sellers. Marketplace has brought out significance and has highlighted culture for many countries and cities. For some people bazaar is the motivation of living in a metropolitan city such as Karachi. The crowd, the hustle bustle, the traffic, the narrow streets, the endless chatters of bargaining customers is what makes bazaar so interestingly worth rushing in to. The day and night shopping craze has driven Karachi to be named as the city of lights. From routine weekday shopping to the overwhelmingly crowded chand raats, the bazaar never fails to satisfy Karachiites.
Among all the glittering bazaars of the city, there stands the Sunday Bazaar; the cheapest yet the elitist of all with its unparallel charm and attraction for shopaholics. Sunday Bazaar holds a different kind of fascination; it is a platform where collection of different people comes together for one main objective, shop at the lowest price.
When the clouds of darkness crack, a new hope begins to emerge. Hundreds of sellers come to the plains of DHA phase 8 to set up their stalls as the clock ticks 9. A long wait in the queue is predictable in rush hours between 12 to 4, when many diverse looking cars gather in that enormous parking lot.
And then hundreds of buyers stream into this incredible bazaar where a wide diverse range of everything is available to purchase. From shoes, clothes, bags to books, flowers, utensils everything is at ease, you don’t have to run to various different markets. Not only it offers variety of products but also it showcases the diversity of people. Hundreds of people come here from various different economic backgrounds, to shop.
Sunday bazaar is the biggest supermarket present in Karachi, covering 30 acres of the land with two thousand and five hundred stalls set up every Sunday. From shelves and stalls of hundreds of books the bazaar extends over to the Grocery section.
The uniqueness of this bazaar is that it not only includes the trading products but it also welcomes the customers with the traditional desi food court. It is an attraction to a large number of people where they can dine an inexpensive delicious food, ranging from famous biryani to gol gappay, roll, burgers, all kinds of juices, etc. The exclusivity Sunday bazaar holds is what fascinates people to rush down there. The crowd of Sunday bazaar makes the place even more interesting, one is likely to find people in mediocre social strata as well as they may encounter foreigners and people from the elite. Everybody waits for this day of the week, surely, Sunday bazaar puts a smile on their faces and they promise to return next week.
