A Madrasi’s Musings on Assam – 8

S. BALAKRISHNAN

Haats (Weekly Markets) of Guwahati

 Haats (weekly markets/bazaars) are a fascinating place providing treat for your senses – sight & sound (audio-visual), smell, taste and touch. One gets to know the social life of the local people by the vast and varied spread in the haats. It is definitely a photographer’s delight. It was in 2016 that I came across a hatt of Assam; we were returning from Majuli (world’s largest inhabited river island) to Gauhati by road when we saw a roadside haat. I do not remember the name of the place. We requested the cab driver to halt for a few minutes and he did so reluctantly. Well, he had his own compulsions - to dump us at Guwahati as per the schedule and perhaps pick up another customer. That is why I hate conducted tours; what we have to see, when and where are all predetermined and we have to stick to the tight schedule. We hurriedly went around the haat; as a memento I could only buy a humble oil chimney lamp for 15 rupees as permitted by me wife, though I was ogling at an antique brass lamp.

  The first haat that I visited in Guwahati during the present stay was the Uzan Bazaar on a Sunday, just the day after my arrival in Assam. My daughter, already living in Guwahati, did all the talking and I was a mute witness. Some vegetables were familiar and some were queer. I picked up the first few Assamese words at the Uzan Bazaar, like ‘kiman’ (how much) and ‘toka’ (rupee). But Uzan Bazaar is not a haat in real sense; it is a regular daily market that becomes more lively & busy on Sundays. However, it gave me an intro to the Guwahati haats and aroused my curiosity to visit as many haats as possible during my short stay.

          Being just two-bus-stop distance away from our place, I frequented it leisurely on foot or by catching the city bus.  The first visit was more a business one; so in the next trips I explored it thoroughly and discovered the ‘Banganapalli’ mangoes that are our favourite and which come all the way down South from Andhra’s Banganapalli. And the cost was same as in Chennai, 100 rupees a kilo. By the by, the word ‘mango’ is a derivative of Tamil word ‘maangai’.] Before rounding up our Assam visit, we purchased a few bamboo items from Uzan Bazaar. Identifying me as a South Indian, a vegetable vendor, Shri Dipankar Saha, happily narrated his highly satisfying medical treatment at a Chennai hospital; it was very touching. Another seller offered a jalepano (the spicy chilli) to smell its spiciness; ‘be careful, if it touches your nose it will burn for the whole day’, he warned me. It is so spicy that the seller said that he used just one chilli for 3-4 meals! Wish I had bought one and tried a bite; it cost five rupees only. 

          Egged on by Uzan Bazaar experience (how can a vegetarian be egged on!), I ventured out to the haat at Narengi, some 8 kms away. The pavement was overflowing with the sellers from nearby villages; they had even occupied the platform of Narengi railway station. Homegrown vegetables & fruits like pineapple, jack, litchi, jamun, cute tiny tomatoes, homemade mustard oil & pickles, varieties of banana & fish – live, dead and dried, edible fern – the spread was amazing! Being a vegetarian I do not know the names of the fish but the wriggling thing must be live eel. Women fishmongers and women butchers (!) were busy serving the customers. My nose drew in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian smells and filled my lungs without any partiality.  I was delighted to find papads packed from my home state of Tamil Nadu. Moringa greens & other familiar greens, moringa (drumstick), banana flower and stem were other happy discoveries.  [Another language tips – ‘Moringa’ is the corrupt form of the original Tamil name ‘murungai’; as this vegetable resembled drum sticks, the British named it drumstick!] From Narengi I returned home with tamarind, gur, and some vegetables. From an iron monger I successfully bargained and bought a votive snake (that is offered in Shiv temples) for 50 rupees from the original quote of 125 rupees. As I am a poor bargainer, my wife appreciated the improvement in my bargaining capacity and yet remarked that she would have bought the snake (live or dead) for a flat 25 rupees!