The quirks of the Jambli Naka Market
Hacks to get a steal while shopping for vegetables at this Thane market
Hacks to get a steal while shopping for vegetables at this Thane market
I was at the Jambli Naka Market today for my weekly shopping of vegetables there. I was there at 6 am today and experienced some of the quirks of the market peculiar to it. Being the first customer for a tomato seller, I got ten rupees off on one kg. I bought, paying only twenty rupees instead of the thirty he should have charged.
I was the first customer for the fruit seller too, and without me bargaining, he volunteered to reduce the price of a kg. of apples by ten rupees. So, I paid him one hundred and fifty rupees, ten less than what was the price.
Also, the apple seller picked and gave me six apples without weighing. This seller offered six apples to a kg if they were medium-sized and eight apples to a kg for smaller ones.
Unusual experiences at Jambli Naka include getting a discount for being the first customer of the day. It is called Boni in Marathi and south Indian languages and considered a good omen for selling during the rest of the day. Also, one can buy fruits by count even when there is a weighing scale available.
Despite the advent of supermarkets and gourmet food stores, traditional vegetable markets in India continue to wield their charm on shoppers. I have come full circle in respect of shopping for vegetables, having started off at shandy markets in my childhood and graduating to modern retail more recently but returning to an open-air market at Thane.
For all the comfort they offer, apart from the convenience, supermarkets in India present several challenges. Produce in a supermarket is not fresh as they are harvested, packed, and then displayed in an air-conditioned store. As a result, most vegetables you see at a store are not as fresh as they are dehydrated.
Retailers are in the habit of using cling wrap or plastic packaging to keep vegetables fresh for sale, and such practice adds to packaging waste. The variety of vegetables on offer is also limited as compared to an open-air market. And the prices higher than on the street, as operating costs for retailers, are much higher due to the infrastructure and staff costs they need.
I have found at Urbania that we have many residents who make their way to Jambli Naka for vegetable shopping. This market is located in an area with a lot of traffic and is best approached in the morning when getting a parking slot for a vehicle is possible along the wall of the nearby St. John’s Church.
Getting early to Jambli Naka for vegetables has many benefits. If you are the first shopper at a stall, then you are in luck to get a price you offer or reduced by the shopkeeper, as the sellers consider it not right to turn down the day’s first customer.
One unusual practice you will find the sellers indulging in, is discounting the price for higher quantities.
For example, if a quarter kg. of beans priced at twenty rupees, the seller offers the same beans at thirty rupees for half a kg. That is a 33% discount! I think the sellers want to liquidate their stock quickly and thus encourage bulk buying.
The quantity you get is always likely to be more than what you pay for, reminding you of the weight equivalent of the baker’s dozen. You will invariably find every stall owner offer you the whole quantity in the pan on a weigh scale when they see it exceeding slightly from the quantity that you are buying. If you shop for about 10-12 varieties of vegetables and you get about 50 gm. Higher in six of those, that is 300 gm of free extra quantity in one shopping trip.
Jambli Naka has all kinds of sellers and shops of varying sizes. Some specialize only in one item. Others stock many and thus are an excellent place to pick up many vegetables in one shop quickly. A few sellers specialize in a category not found elsewhere and thus making you stop at their stall. For items like raw jackfruit, one can get it cut and ready for cooking, helping one avoid the hassle of dealing with the sticky wax inside.
The market of Jambli Naka stocks vegetables for local or Indian cuisine, so getting any exotic vegetables from Jambli Naka is not easy. You can find a few stalls selling colored capsicum, baby corn, and purple cabbage, but those and one or two other exotic vegetables are all you will find.
Sometimes you may find just outside the market, on the footpath, sellers offering lettuce and cherry tomatoes.
The market has its lanes and bylanes, with retail shoppers welcome at the small road adjacent to the clock tower. This section has stalls that are looking to offer and liquidate inventory latest by 9 am.
So, if you happen to go there after 8 am. You are likely to get a steal. The sellers are then keen to empty out stock and will offer bargain prices.
It seems the disposal of the vegetable market waste happens just before 9 am through the TMC garbage truck. Post 9 am, the sellers have to themselves dispose of the vegetables and thus are very keen to finish sales by around 8.30 am.
After 8.30 am, one can still find vegetable vendors on adjoining roads offering smaller quantities and prices slightly higher than at the stalls. These vendors and others who sell in Thane on pushcarts or through their stalls, buy at the wholesale section of the market that adjoins Shivaji Path. That part of the market is more substantial and where one buys vegetables for bulk use.
Jambli Naka is a cash-only market, and one can’t even see the ubiquitous PayTM signs at any of the shops.
The entire trade is by cash, and one has to do mental math for the amount or go by what the vendor totals and tells you to pay.
The sellers at Jambli Naka know the regular shoppers well, and one can overhear the sellers recommending and offering vegetables to such regulars. You can even hear the sellers addressing such regulars as family members!
Many are the charms of Thane’s Jambli Naka market. It is an open-air market that offers on sale a whole range of vegetables fresh from farms. The prices are lower than at retail shops, and depending on the time of day, one can get steals by being the first shopper or the one just before closure for the day. The market practice of rounding-off the quantity also ensures you get back with a bag of vegetables slightly more than for what you paid.