Bengalis and the hawkers’ corners in Kolkata

It was at some point of time in the mid-1950s that the first ever hawker’s corner came up in North Kolkata at Shyambazar. It was located in the area of cinema halls and the famous Hatibagan bazar. As the name suggests, it was meant exclusively for hawkers who were allotted one unit of space in which the owner could set up shop and sell his wares.
It was a sprawling covered space and the shops were mostly of clothes, sarees, blouses, handicrafts, artificial jewelry, toys etcetera. And, the advantage of having it in an area frequented by people was good for business. There were no overheads as such and usually, the owners were jack-of-all-trades from being the salesman to the helper boy.

At times they were assisted by their wives or sisters because the clientele was usually women and girls.
Later, more hawkers’ corners were set up in Kalighat and in the Maidan. The concept was to rehabilitate the refugees who had come over from Bangladesh and the government of the day rose to the occasion to set up these hawkers’ corners.
However, in South Kolkata, the picture was different. Here also refugees had settled in the suburbs and they also wanted to find out methods of earning their livelihood. Most of them put up cottages on forcibly acquired land and took up hawking goods from footpaths. And, over a period of time, they joined hands, formed groups, obtained the blessings of political parties and began to set up shops on the footpaths of the busy crossing at Gariahat.
Right now, it is impossible for pedestrians to use the footpath due to the encroachment.
The bottom line is that these hawkers are officially categorized as unemployed, their names ae registered in the employment exchanges but the amount of money that the take home at the end of the day can never be imagined. It is all tax-free. (to be continued…)

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