He was my first Chor Bazar contact and besides our common name we got along well, one of his relatives worked with me as my driver those days when I had a car,,
Now I dont have a car I use public transport or I walk..
Firoze used to sell his stuff on a charpoy outside a closed shop on Fridays..Friday is the weekly off for the Chor Bazar shops when guys like Firoze display their stuff and sell.. they buy too , mostly from the Kamatipura Vanjaris .
The money is good as everything that seems like useless junk also sells , the stuff in great demand is old Leica cameras , Rolex watches old paintings , old photographs and miniature works of art .
Most of the stuff comes from old Parsi homes , and in brand new condition.. old gramophones , speakers music systems , you name it they have it ,, a lot of people in this market have become millionaires travel to Europe Italy Belgium to meet international buyers .
The main Muslim community in this trade are Gujrati origin Mansuri Muslims .. a close knit community of businessmen entrepreneurs traders .
The Friday Chor Bazar flea market starts very early before 5 am with a break for Friday namaz and the roadside vendors leave when it turns dark during Maghrib.
You can get old coins old money medallions , even stuff that is banned , a lot of stolen stuff like designer shoes stolen from wedding halls mosques mandirs comes to another flea market of Shoes at Kamatipura called Dedh Gully .
I have stopped going to both Chor Bazar and Kamatipura flea market since almost 5 to 6 years now.
But if you get hooked to this market it is addictive , habit forming , I collected old cameras and shot street mugs so it was pretty good till it lasted ,, my used to call me a Junkie as she thought I simply collected junk adding to the junk at home ..
So these are old memories , some idyllic nostalgia ,,, I had some great times here I was well known infamously because of my attire and my barefeet ..and the jewelry I wore on my person.
