The myths and truths about Palika Bazar, New Delhi

Have you ever been to the Palika Bazar, the underground market in Delhi? Even if you have not been there yet, you might have heard various rumours  about the place. These rumours make the place more infamous than just being famous. It is true that you can fill your shopping bags with tonnes of goods with just little money there but, are all the rumours just myths or are they really true? Let us quickly find out!

The Palika Bazar in Delhi is also known as the underground market for the obvious reason, it is situated under the ground. The market is inside a multi-storied underground building with hundreds of shops selling every kind of products there is. Like every coin has its two sides, the market is as infamous for defrauding as much as it is famous for the availability of wide range of products at a very low price. Now, if you are someone looking for a Gucci bag or an Armani suit then Palika bazar is not for you. It is a paradise for those who are particularly looking for good clothes at low prices. Sweaters, jackets, tops, shirts, accessories, dresses, suits, shoes, electronics, etc, you name it and the the market has it.

If you have not been there before then your family or friends might warn you to be aware of the frauds just like I was for good reasons. You might be shocked to know how low the  prices of the goods are. But more interestingly the prices asked by the shops might actually be double or more than the actual selling prices. For instance, the asking price of a product that I was interested to buy was INR 300 but after bargaining, I ended up buying it at around INR 50. Surprised right? So you should be good at bargaining if you want to avoid being "looted". If you are someone who does not like to bargain at all then I would suggest you to stay away from that vicious place.

You might also encounter people approaching you with products that are priced very low but, they would claim that the products are 100% "genuine". For example, someone might approach you with an expensive Rolex watch with genuine tags on it and they would ask for INR 10,000 only. The probable explanation that you might receive from him or her would be that it is a "genuine" stolen product. But in reality, the product might be an imitation and if you are not careful, you might fall into their trap and might end up paying 10 to 15 times more than what it worths.

It is also worth mentioning that most of the shops selling clothes are illuminated with light sources of every possible hue but white. The majority of the shops are illuminated with bulbs having blue hue. One of the probable explanation behind it might be that the blue light makes it difficult to recognize imperfection such as stains or imperfect stitches in the fabric. But, it is not a big problem as you can totally avoid it by checking the fabric a little more carefully.

So not everything about Palika Bazar of Delhi is a myth. If you are not careful enough then you might fall into one of the traps and might find yourself become the victim of a daylight robbery. Also, one must only get into a bargaining if he or she is planning to buy a particular product because if the shopkeeper agrees to sell the product at the offered price and later if the customer changes his or her mind then they might get humiliated by the shopkeeper. Similar incidents have happened with people I know personally. But if you are well aware of the market prices of the products or can distinguish a fake product from the genuine one then you might need extra bags to carry all the goods that you are going to buy.

These types of scams are not limited to Palika Bazar only. These scams are widely practiced in many street shops across India and many countries world wide. So if you find a deal that is too good to be true then step back from it and deal carefully.

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