Chalti Firti Dukan

चलती फिरती दुकान 

Ritika Bagad(A22_01), Samruddhi Ratnakar(A22_36)

A street vendor is a person who offers goods or services for sale to the public without

having a permanent built up structure but with a temporary static structure or mobile

stall.

The urban sociological landscape comprises people across the economic spectrum. By

making goods and services available at places that are conveniently accessible, street

vendors not only reduce the transaction costs of everyday purchases, but also play a

significant role in increasing the labour hours. Therefore, street vendors have a major

role in reducing the cost of living in urban cities. The street-vending economy also

ensures equitable distribution of economic gains across its production and distribution

value chains unlike those in big malls and supermarkets.

But traditionally, street vendors have remained a neglected lot, and have been subject

to harassment by police and local governments.

The idea of street vending extends beyond its traditional definition, however. Seen from

a wider perspective, it opens up new vistas of economic activity; it’s a form of micro-

entrepreneurship that can address the unemployment challenge confronting India.

We searched for such vendors, asked them about how, when and why they started

selling and at what time of the day they move in the market.

Initially, we tried to collect stories of the moving vendors at Gateway of India, where we

learned how people from other cities migrate to Mumbai for work, adding to the local

economy. Like, Sajan Ali- Chaiwala from Uttar Pradesh working since 4 years, Kishor-

Photographer from UP working since 22 years, Mintu- Bhelpuriwala from UP working

since 15 years, Rajesh- Shoe polishwala from MP working since 20 years, Ajay Shinde-

kaan saaf karne wala from Sangli working since 8 years, Rajan kumar from Bihar- sells

water and beverages since 1 year and is a BA student, Vilas Shankar Savlekar owner of

Savlekar's Chilki sells everyday for 4 hours in the evening, Rakhi sells fried snacks in train

since 4 years and stays in Kalva. These interactions helped us to communicate more

and understand their hardships.

To learn more about the moving street vendors in Mumbai, we explored the markets of

Borivali and Dadar. These markets housed both the stationary as well as the moving

vendors. We observed how the vendors move along the markets selling their goods.

They mostly sell jewellery, fruits, flowers, candyfloss, cushions, envelopes, bags,

calendars and some clothing items. Many of the vendors were from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar

and have came here to find their livelihood.

These small stories helped us to understand how these vendors protect the culture of

the city by selling traditional and ethnic foods and crafts, which help to preserve the

cultural heritage. They also promote cultural exchange by bringing together people

from different cultural backgrounds.