The Koli Women of Bandra Bazar Fish Market

The Koli Women of Bandra Bazar Fish Market, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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This lady is a terror but a gentle one , I never ask any of the Koli women their names I know most of them since 20 years , the only one I know by name is Mangla.

I was at the fish market yesterday to buy rawas or gol as daughter in law no 2 wanted to make a fish dish called kapsa.

The stuff she wanted was far too expensive I bought a surmai, that I haggled and finally got at Rs 170- she was asking Rs 350...from another lady.

Bandra Bazar Fish Market has two sections indoors , and two sections outdoor , because of the monsoon fish is mostly refrigerated stuff, prawns , promfret , gol dara and surmai.

The fishermen dont take the boats out to sea during the rainy season.

And though the Hindu fasting period Shravan is going on fish is still very expensive.


I went again this morning ..and bought gol for Rs 200 the kapsa dish is being made for dinner tonight.

All the fisher women inquire about Marziya , as she loves the fish market as much as me.

I dont think I could ever buy fish at any other fish market , once we had a Bhaiyya who bought and sold fish from Bhau cha Dhakka , he kept a mobile , and had a neat clientele but he has not been since several months now.

The Andheri West fish market is a huge one and is great for haggling and buying fish.

Versova gaon or the ferry you get fresh fish after the rains including jumbo prawns and lobsters.

As a kid and later as an adult I would bring fish from Sasoon Dock at Colaba , but I have not gone there since ages.

And much of these fish posts are dedicated to my dearest friend Monsoon Lover aka Sudip da ..who loves hilsa the king of Indian fish.


Bengalis , Orissa people and the coastal Maharashtrians love fish and rice.


The hijras from Orissa , chelas of Laxmi Narayan Tripathi my hijra guru, had served me spicy fish curry rice at their shanty in Thane.The taste still lingers in my mouth.

And Raksha the Hijra from Orissa is not just beautiful but a great cook too..

And as I write this my hijra guru Laxmi has been hospitalized with a viral infection, I spoke to her this morning..

She will be discharged tomorrow hopefully.