Rawalpindi is a city of bazaars. There are lots of renowned bazaars in the city. Upper and upper-middle class people frequently go to these bazaars to buy necessary items like fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, cooking oil, ghee, fabrics, scarves, belts, wallets, jewelry, perfume, clothes, shoes, cosmetics, ornaments, T-shirts, trousers, leather goods, pottery items, books, flowers, grocery items and the like.
“Pindiites love to go to Raja Bazaar. This Bazaar is the heart of the city. Almost every footpath is full of hawkers and make-shift markets. Although this bazaar is usually meant for low-income-people, the rich also visit this bazaar. Even foreigners go there to procure uncommon items,” says Muzammal Hussain.
“Raja Bazaar rules over neighboring bazaars such as Sabzi Mandi, Trunk Bazaar, Bazaar Dalgarran, Purana Qila, Moti Bazaar with the most famous women clothing, bangles and bridal shops, Bohar Bazaar for wholesale medicine, Urdu Bazaar for textbooks and other stationery items and many more,” says Amir Abbas.
“Amjad Naqvi came to Rawalpindi from Karachi five years ago. Now he sells different categories of shoes and belts near Fawara Chowk. When I visited his ramshackle shop, I saw some renowned brand shoes as well,” says Mushtaq Zaidi.
“If you walk through this bazaar, you will find different kinds of products such as ready-made garments, caps and other eye-catching stuff. My hobby is to collect coins and stamps belonging to different countries. Some years ago, I bought some coins from here at a very low price. Several coins and stamps belong to famous periods of history,” says Azmat Raza.
Afsheen Haider, a 42-year-old woman says, “I have paid countless visits to this bazaar as inexpensive goods are available here. I have been visiting this bazaar for two decades. I visited this place to buy a number of things. I find everything of my taste here.”
“You can also get counterfeit versions of famous perfumes or colognes here. We have rows of Johnson baby shampoo, Gillette shaving foam and so on. Maybe these are not made by the company that is written on them, but people buy them and so far we haven’t had any major complaints,” says Syed Sajid, a shop owner, defending his business.
“As you move along you will find roadside stalls selling sunglasses. “Sir, I have top brands at a reasonable rate. How do they sell at such a low price? You must be wondering. But, if you are fortunate, you may find a genuine item,” says Rehman Naqi.
“Numerous people who bring spectacles from abroad come to us and sell them when they are in need of hard cash. But most of these are locally made. Many drug addicts come here to sell their stolen goods. We buy the stuff at an economical rate, therefore, we get a big profit,” says Rahim Shah.
