The Hindu : Front Page : Markets open on low-key note

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 31, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

Markets open on low-key note

Staff Reporter

Business picks up towards evening at many places

DAY AFTER THE BIG BANG: Shoppers throng Sarojini Nagar market on Sunday evening, a day after the area was struck by a bomb blast. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI: A day after the unending hustle and bustle of shoppers was abruptly cut short by the blast in the Sarojini Nagar market on Saturday evening, trading activities in the market resumed on Sunday afternoon. It seemed to be business as usual. But only just.

Earlier in the day, the police held a meeting with the market association after which it was decided that the market should open at 2 p.m., the idea being to show that people would not be cowed down by such incidents.

Business was not going to be great and the shopkeepers knew that. "I am yet to start and my friend has sold only about a dozen jeans pants," said Roop Kishore, selling bed-sheets. He added that he did not expect to make more than his "bohni" (some initial sale).

A large number of people, who included men who had been there on Saturday evening, and also curious onlookers gathered near the blast site recounting the incident again and again, each having his own version.

Only a few families ventured out in the afternoon, though their numbers grew towards evening. Some of them went about discussing whether to celebrate Diwali or keep it a low-key affair.

Elsewhere, the situation was more or less the same. At the Central Market in Lajpat Nagar, policemen went around checking the shops and the by-lanes. There were not many people in the market. The mood could be gauged from the fact that parking lots, which are usually jam-packed, had empty spaces.

However, in Govindpuri, where the blast had gone off in a DTC bus, people seemed to be going about their business in a routine manner.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section