Shopping is an ancient activity that would always be
integral to human beings and the human community. In fact, cutting across
colour and creed, the market is probably the primary space of and for human
interaction that binds people in a strong and irreplaceable bond. It is so much
more than simply trade and commerce. As much as it is an economic platform, it
is equally a vibrant cultural and social space that keeps human beings’ spirit
well buoyed and inspires excellence and productivity. True, shopping is no
longer what it used to be before the internet, however, certain items are best
bought in person because there are certain fruits, vegetables, herbs and
numerous food items very integral to our food habits that cannot be bought
online. This has to do more with the unique vegetation of the Northeast that
blesses us with indigenous fruits, vegetables, herbs and other food items
unavailable in and unknown to the rest of the country.
It is then not surprising that the numerous markets (called
haats in Assam) on different days of the week keep on growing across Nagaland.
There is this huge market at the Super Market (Naga Shopping Arcade) on
Wednesdays in Dimapur that had a humble beginning several decades ago but now
draws huge numbers of vendors and shoppers even from nearby areas of
neighbouring Assam. On sale are everything one can imagine right from food
items, including fresh local fish, meat, and livestock, handloom, handicraft,
steaming hot and delicious veg and non-veg treats, daos, knives, whetstones and
different kinds of locally made kitchen and home utensils and appliances,
potted plants and fresh flowers, as also bags of potting compost and peat moss
for your kitchen and flower gardens. There are new and second hand clothes,
handbags, socks, shoes and other items at prices affordable for people with
varied pocket sizes. The trick of course is to know the art of bargaining,
however most bundles of local herbs and other greens, which used to cost INR 10
“once upon a time”, now sell for the fixed price of INR 30, INR 50 and INR 100.
Shopping in Dimapur’s Wednesday market at the Super Market
complex (Naga Shopping Arcade) is a special experience not only because of the
mind-boggling range of items on sale but because it erases all social and
economic status and class ~ never mind the price of the car one drives to reach
this market. In this market, everyone is equal ~ merely a customer. Majority of
the vendors are women not only from Dimapur but also from the neighbouring
districts of Chumoukedima and Niuland. A lot of them also come all the way from
districts such as Peren, Wokha, Tseminyu, Phek, etc. at the crack of dawn sell
their wares here. Such is the fame, popularity and profitability of our
Wednesday market. I am not aware if concerned government departments and
agencies or any bank or other financial institutions have studied the volume of
sales and turnover of this market, so it is difficult to put a number offhand
but it may not be incorrect to say that the market has one of the biggest
volumes and turnover in Nagaland. Hence it is surprising that the State Government
has not tapped into this market and projected it as a major economic hub and
another tourist attraction because it accentuates the best of the uniqueness of
Naga culture, social interaction and commercial activity. It is, after all, a
microcosm of the Naga way of life, our natural abundance and food habits.
There are such markets in different districts of Nagaland,
however the scale is smaller, The Saturday market at Chumoukedima is probably
the second largest of such markets and is growing. Its strength is its location
at the heart of one of Nagaland’s richest agricultural belts. One hears that
the Friday market at Medzhiphema is no less a growing one. These markets are
growing because they provide a platform for the ever-burgeoning bottom rung of
our society, who has no recourse to bank loans, Government subsidies, schemes
and other facilities that somehow seem to get stuck within the privileged upper
echelons. On the other hand, such markets are the perfect solution for people
not only of the bottom rung of society but also those sliding down to this rung
from the various tiers of the middle class through the ever-widening cracks in
our over-all national and State economic situation ~ escalating cost of food,
other essential items, health, education and the general inflation. While it is
easy for Governments to hold forth on the “development” they have ushered in,
especially in small development-deficit States like Nagaland, it is such
markets that truly mirror the reality of the vast number of people, who are
confronting soaring prices with stagnant incomes and the increasing number of
unemployed. Such markets are not only easier on the pocket but also provide an
avenue to generate some income thus making these markets the most reliable
source of grass-root level entrepreneurship. Ultimately, it is grass-root level
entrepreneurship that is the backbone of subsistence agriculture and sustains
our agrarian economy thereby underlining Nagaland’s rurality.
Not surprising again that most vendors of such markets are
women which speaks volumes about how much our women are still marginalised,
even barred, from the formal economy although our men like to talk of gender
equality in Naga society. It is, after all, in the level of participation in
the economy that truly reflects gender status and equality and even the wider
spectrum of genuine democratic traditions. Old fashioned shopping is not only a
healthy form of retail therapy but also very educative, as it reveals the true
face of the State and society’s politics, economics, culture, traditions,
mindset and attitudes. And such markets in Nagaland don’t reveal a pretty face.
But come to Nagaland, save a Wednesday for the market at the Super Market,
revel in the bonhomie of human bonding, drink in the atmosphere of hope founded
in blood, sweat and tears, relish the aroma of a struggling but vibrant people,
feast your eyes on Nature’s bounty that is our traditional food and learn
first-hand of the answers we are scripting for ourselves.
Monalisa Changkija
(The Columnist, a journalist and poet, is Founder-Editor,
Nagaland Page. Published in Assam Tribune issue of January 28, 2025)
