The Merchants of Mumbai

INDIA | Sunday, 13 January 2013 | Views [441] | View Larger Image

The hawkers comprise a small section of slum-dwellers that supports the survival of the city’s other poor by keeping essential commodities cheap and affordable. The children’s toys at this Muslim vendor’s stall sell for about 10 cents each, but business is slow until sundown. Most of the goods are handmade in the mega-slums of Mumbai and sold directly to vendors, thereby cutting out the expensive middlemen.

As cars carrying the newly rich come to stop for half a minute at a traffic light in Mumbai, a mob of young boys swiftly surround them- one offering to wash the windscreen, and the other selling water bottles with original labels but questionable water. But the most popular traffic light business is that of pirated books, which are sold for about a tenth of the market price. The sad irony however is that these “book boys” will remain illiterate throughout their lives.

< previous

2 of 5

The 250,000 street vendors of Mumbai are a part of the urban poor that has moved on to create jobs for themselves with minimal capital, instead of depending on the indifferent government to help them. Experts estimate that the ‘informal’ economy from businesses such as street-vending contributes significantly towards the country’s annual economic growth and is responsible directly or indirectly for as much as 90% of all employment. Seen here hiding from the midday sun on the heavily polluted Chowpatty beach, is a “gola” (slush) vendor.

next >

The Merchants of Mumbai

The Merchants of Mumbai

Share

Photo Galleries

Where I've been

My trip journals