Joona Bazaar photo feature
Pune’s Joona Bazaar (Joona is a Marathi word meaning old) is a place where you can buy second-hand stuff…something akin to a flea market. The only difference between a flea market in western countries and a similar market here is that in India you won’t get just second hand stuff, but third hand and fourth hand goods too…with a few stolen goods thrown in! Mumbai has a joona bazaar too, called Chor Bazaar, (Chor means thief in Hindi) but I am not sure whether it’s called Chor because you can buy stolen goods there…this wiki entry says Chor is simply a corruption of the word Shor (meaning noise). Chor Bazaar of Mumbai is a tourist attraction as you can pick up some antiques pretty cheap…which you can in Pune’s Joona Bazaar too. In fact you can buy just about anything and that too dirt cheap but you have to bargain like crazy! These kind of markets are a feature of every single Indian city…some cities even have a couple of them…
A strong drizzle had cleared the air just a few hours earlier and therefore I got some decent photographs. Usually I have to work very hard on my photographs… clean them up as they come out hazy because of the pollution in the air. And when the air is clean (as in the monsoons), the lighting isn’t good enough….and as a result the colours don’t come out right. This time the sun was very intense, the light dazzling bright, the air hot but transparent (!) and my pictures came out clear. All I had to do was crop them to get the right composition. As I am posting over 20 photos I thought of a slide-show but while a slideshow is okay for scenery, I was not sure whether it was suitable to showcase photographs of a crowded flea market such as this…each picture is so crowded with details! Sorry for the extra scrolling you need to do…and also if it takes a little long to load…
Most of the pics speak for themselves…
These markets are usually very crowded and its not just the poor who frequent them…
You get foreigners here too…this one is buying a some sort of toy band…
(All photographs are copyrighted)
Related Viewing: More photo-features about India
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Filed under: Business, Culture, India, Life, Photography, Pune, Travel | Tagged: Flea markets, Joona Bazaar, Street markets
lol,what a market…in chennai we don’t have a flea market( or well there might be something like that in north chennai,which i am not aware of)…but for antiques,if you an eye open,you can find them through out the city…
Nita,
Haven’t you seen the Sports Shoes Sellers there? They have all brand NEW shoes. I have been there for them once . No, I didn’t bought but I found shoes of all branded companies like Nike, Reebok, Adidas and Lee Cooper. They were originals OR excellent copies of originals (Honestly, I was unable to identify if they were fake).
Don’t you think you missed some things? Yes you did.
And BTW when did you took those photos? Sunday or Wednesday ?
Vishesh, a real market isn’t it! I love browsing around such markets and would have spent some time there if it hadn’t been so blistering hot!
Suda, I took the pics on Sunday…and just took them from a moving car! The traffic was slow and therefore we did not need to stop to take pictures. I have been to the market earlier but this time all the pics were taken from the road…and no I haven’t seen that shoe shop…I won’t be surprised if the shoes were genuine…maybe chori ka maal!
what beautiful pictures! I love the trunks pic!… and oh - i dint come via wordpress news. i got here via amrutha’s blog…
the nike, reebok and lee cooper shoes are original ones, those are stolen from the cargo ships and smuggled to India. That’s what I heard from a friend of mine in Mumbai.
Those are original ones as u can see cutomized shoes among them… those wud have been cutomized for some poor guy in HongKong, while on the way the pirates got them and sold to smugglers.
Nita, is that scooter for sale? or is it parked there?
Hey Xylene, I heard same. And scooter is not for sale. Its used for transportation purposes.
Hmm..this is interesting. I’ve lived in Pune for the past 2 years now and have never heard of this. The table fans are funny
and the trunks definitely look antique. The last time I saw one of them was at college.
Nice work. Can you tell me, which camera do you use?
In these kinds of places you have to be very circumspect, as usually these places become the target of terrorist to hamper the peace. Anything on the roadside could be distrustful, from briefcases to old scooter.
I have been to markets in Delhi like Chor bazaar and Daryaganz Book Market, and always found crowded. But finding things here very cheap really excites me.
Hi mad momma and thanks. hope to see you again.
Xylene, thanks for the info! And I don’t know about the scooter…but I have a feeling it must be for sale… but then I don’t know!
Lakshmi, hi and welcome.
Surprising you haven’t heard of the market as its been around for the last at least 25 years. But then I guess its not much of a place to really find anything! One has to really know what to buy and how to bargain, so for us its more of a novelty rather than something useful.
Bornfool, I use Canon 610, the review of which I have written here.
I am always attracted to such bazaars..we find some really peculiar things at a price I can afford.
I have never been to pune..however I don’t want to miss this one if and when I come to pune.
Nice pics. I felt as if i had a walk through the market. I am surprised to see a market of that kind. Goods look too old and non usable. I wonder who buys electronic items from there.
OMG!!! Such markets exist?? I have heard of Chor Bazaars but have never seen one. Thanks for the pics.
I really liked the ones with the knives and the one with the tv set. Did you buy anything?
Nita - perfect timing for this great photo-blog. The season of buying and selling used goods is upon us here in Canada. We do have flea markets, with the usual second, third and fourth-hand stuff, also “rabbited” stuff of illegal provenance. However it is the garage sales that set the heart of die-hard bargain hunters aflutter. Many suburban lawns are littered with goods no longer wanted by their owners, always on the two days of our weekends. One can find the strangest stuff and going on one of these on a weekend is a form of entertainment for many of my friends. I found my avatar at a garage sale for 10 cents and waxed so enthusiastic to the seller she must have thought me insane.
The picture of the electric fans reminds that we in North America take central air-conditioning in the summer for granted. There must be a brisk exchange of fans in hot India. Also the picture of the scooter with the log for seat shows remarkable adjustment to using whatever is available to make something function. Great photos! G
hi!
i looooove second, 3rd, 4,…hand markets!
You can get amazing and surprising stuff there!
I’m sure i’d get some interesting things here,…
And i can see in the pictures, some lost tourists
having a look, hahahaha!!!
Nice pics!!!
Very nice collection…. almost every city has one of these. I used to buy hard disks for my computer for a mere Rs. 100 from such markets in Bangalore
Rambler, Radhesh, thanks.
Amit, no I didn’t buy anything! It was too hot! Next time…
Surburban, thanks. Here only the superrich have central airconditioning. Almost everyone uses fans! We also have a concept of coolers which work in a hot dry climate (not in mumbai’s humidity). Coolers are cheaper, use less electricity…they work as the cooler is filled with water and the hot air that comes in (along with a motor fan) helps to evaporate the water. In Delhi coolers are common.
Francina, next time you come to India, I’ll take you to Mumbai’s Chor Bazaar! It will be fun.
Oemar, hard disk for Rs 100!! That’s really cool and in fact that answers someone who wonders how people can buy electronic stuff here. I mean, if one is buying it at a throwaway price, who cares how long it lasts!!
NITA!!!
I’m coming this august to India, but i’m going to Varanasi…
Sure if I have opportunity to go to Mumbai, I give u a call
so u take me someday to this market!
I’d love to met you Nitaaaaaaa. Thanxs!!!
I guess a lot of people are attracted to the spiritual aura of Varanasi. Have never been there myself. I hope Mumbai will beckon too…there is the beauty of south india to see…and mumbai is on the way.
I’ll send you my phone number anyway so you can call me. - Nita.
that would be great NITA!
i’ve never been in the south…and i’d really love to!!!
That’s my 3rd time in varanasi, this time bacause I have
indian friends there…
Thanxs Nita!!!