SHOPPARA

By Mohammad Sohaib

A short, sluggish trolley vendor picks up an apple from a fruit stall as the stall keeper smiles at him. He winks in response and moves his trolley candidly on the floor of the place he has worked at for 26 years now - Aabpara’s Sunday Bazar.

He turns around to show me the back of his shirt when I ask his name; Neymat it reads. Neymat is breathing heavily after taking a whole round of Sunday Bazar with a customer. “I could make just 200 rupees today,” he says without a hint of sadness.

“We used to lift the luggage on our heads in a basket,” Neymat remembers. "Yeh baat hai" is an essential phrase in Neymat’s conversation and his eyes are fixed at one of the six gates of Abpara’s Sunday Bazar. Neymat is thankful to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for their kindness in providing them with trolleys, which are easy to move and spacious as well.

Also Read: Fascinating Google Earth Images Of Aabpara's Sunday Bazar

Neymat is a government servant and works extra hours on a Sunday to earn a living for his family. For Neymat, the best thing about the Sunday Bazar is his “friendship with the stall keepers”. At the end of a tiring day, when the stall keepers are desperate to sell their stuff, Neymat makes a quick round of the Sunday bazar and picks up fruits and vegetables at a very low price. “It is a place that is letting me and my family live,” Neymat says.

Neymat, carrying a basket in the old days. Picture taken from PTV documentary Itwar

Bazar mai. (The picture is linked to the video)

“CDA ki taraf sai sab ko Itwar Bazar mai Khush Amdeed” (CDA welcomes you all to Sunday Bazar), announces a voice through the elevated loudspeakers. The man behind the mic is one of the three inspectors placed at the bazar, he has been here since the Sunday Bazar’s inception.

“Tell me what is easier, buying or selling,” the officer asks me joyfully. He is in his 60’s and his shinning white hair, a half bald head and a thickly glassed pair glasses make him a typical government servant. Clad in a shalwar kameez he is tyring to write the complaints of the customers about the rate list.

As an instant reaction of a lazy person, I tell him that selling is more difficult. "You are wrong," he smiles. Buying is more difficult as you don't know the actually the worth of a product. This is what we are doing here, we are "facillitating the buyers".

See Also: A Journey Through Time

Not just Aabpara but the whole Islamabad comes to this place, you find people from all walks of life and even some who you don't expect to see. Islamabad is an unorthodox city by Pakistani standards, their aren't any bazars here like you see in other cities of the country, Itwar Bazar fills that void, every Sunday the people of Islamabad have a bazar to go to, a place where they can shop their heart out, fight over prices, try to buy things in bulk and also experience what a real bazar looks like. Every Sunday, Aabpara becomes a Shoppara.