Why you need to visit Chor Bazaar's Friday dawn market in Mumbai

Isnt it ironic that the city of dreams is also a city that never sleeps The way to dream here is to stay awake And to witness this in practice we decide to visit a market infamously known for its lsquochori ka maalrsquo They say that if you look hard enough you will find belongings here from years ago that got mysteriously lost or stolenVintage cameraItrsquos 5 am there is pitch darkness outside as we tread into the buzzing lanes of Kamathipura Chor Bazaars Friday nightdawn market is a relatively new setup Here close to 100 hawkers find a seat along either side of the road with their products spread out for display Within a few hours not long after the sun is out the market will have disappeared leaving little to no proof of ever having existed Thus despite its location nearly 23 km from Andheri it is locally referred to as lsquoAndheri Bazaarrsquo or dark marketDedh GullyWe head towards Dalal Estate first This is where the main party is In the popular shoeselling lane called Dedh Gully scores of people join the already crammed up narrow lane Here trendy sneakers formal shoes and flip flops and sliders for daily wear are on display The shiny plasticlike models of Nike Air Jordan available with every hawker catch our eye When we inquire about the price we learn that theyrsquore selling Air Jordan 1 Retro High COJP Midnight Navy for R1500 itrsquos current market price is over Rs 30000Air Jordan COJPldquoDo not settle for a price that is at least 60 per cent lower than the quoterdquo is the advice we get from a college student who has come all the way from Vashi ldquoThey were quoting this at R600rdquo he points at the wornout Puma sliders that he is wearing ldquoI bought it for R200rdquo he beams Just for the sake of it we invoke our Marwari bargaining skills and make the seller agree to sell us the Air Jordan for Rs 600Mannequin head for makeup trials PicsAtul Kamble and Devanshi DoshiAfter quite a bit of negotiation through the crowd we head to the next popular market setup in these bylanes On the cricket ground located in the 12th lane of Kamathipura therersquos another setup by bhangaarwaalas Here unlike in Dedh Gully they donrsquot stick to selling a particular product You will find old coins and currency notes clothes watches shoes DVDs mobile phones random used diaries photo frames antique lamps and showpieces and even secondhand novelsWe spot a child nudging his father trying to convince him to buy an old guitar The jagged strings of the instrument are broken A man right beside him from Borivali is sifting through a stack of vinyl records He comes here once or twice a year and has never returned without having found a bunch of rare classics Another man is carrying the head of a mannequin in his hand He purchased it as a gift for his sister to practice her makeup artistry skills ldquoShe owns a beauty parlour Itrsquos not a bad deal for just R100rdquo We nod in agreementOur companion finds his interest in a vintage camera We head nearby to inspect what could be the worldrsquos smallest bookstore with just four books on sale A young teen is running it by herself We decide to buy a used book with markings and notes all over it for R20 We think it is cool to carry home a piece owned by a stranger carrying remnants of hisher mood and thoughtsWhen we look around we realise that everything being sold here was once owned by someone else And even if theyrsquore not here anymore they are survived by their belongings in the hands of another stranger While the things here symbolise probable broken dreams and lost memories they also symbolise the start of something new As the adage goes life must go onOn Fridays 430 am onwardsAt Chor Bazaar near Akbar Peerbhoy College Dalal Estate KamathipuraThe Guidersquos top four findsAlphie the robot Travel back to your childhood with this robot that functions as a DVD playercost Rs 500Nike flip flop A first copy these plain black flip flops are comfortable and are identical to the originalcost Rs 650Vinyl discs These discs come in a pack of 37 with classic Bollywood songs by icons like Lata Mangeshkar from the 1970s and 80sCost Rs 3000 for 37Two rupee notes This olive green note from the 1960s is a treasure for old currency collectorsCost Rs 1500