I spent a total of about 24 hours in Police Bazaar…during my 40 day long stay in Shillong, in January.
First eight photos are from Iewduh market; rest are from PB.
Iewduh is the Khasi word for Big Market..also known as Bada Bazaar in Hindi. It’s the largest open street market in north-eastern India. Practically everything is available here – fruits, vegetables, fish; to typical medicinal herbs and plants; to traditional wood, bamboo handicrafts, and woolen handmade shawls + all the other regular stuff. Most goods are reasonably priced.
And on every Sunday, from 5a.m. till the ‘good’ stock lasts(usually by 11a.m.), this place holds a different kind of market – only for clothes. Peddlers pile up their stock of clothes on the side pavements and push carts.
A typical pile contains mixed items of clothing- shirts, jeans, coats, etc…and sells for anything between sheepoh(10) Rupees to sanspoh(500) Rupees. Irrespective of prices being dirt cheap..bargaining is still the norm.
While Iewduh’s neighbour Police Bazaar is a major hub for all sorts of activities..and is packed with street side stalls of food, jewelry, shoes, clothes..to small underground malls and arcades + plenty of restaurants & hotels. And it’s crowded everyday like it’s a Sunday + it’s much worse on Sundays.
However, on any day, it’s difficult to take a full length photo without someone coming in your way.
Skinnies and tapered jeans with Converse sneakers is one of the most common sights in Shillong..although seen less on men and more on women. There are 2 exclusive Converse stores in Shillong. One, I’m sure, is in Laitumkhrah..I am not too sure if there is one in PB as well. But there are many street side shops selling Converse shoes just about in every market. However the point is..it seemed like every person in Shillong owns at least a pair of them.
Shillong, other than being known as the fashion capital of India(along with Kohima?), is also known as the rock capital of India. About 90% of the people I met, knew how to play at least one musical instrument really well. However the tag ‘rock capital’ is not quite correct..as they’re all inspired by music of all kind – from Eminem to Poison to Dave Weckl to Bach, and they do make a lot of music other than rock.
Also, Bollywood is their last source of inspiration for anything…but they do like the regular cheesy Bollywood films.
For most, the influences vary from Korean pop stars(Rain, Shinee) to Japanese films(Crows Zero) to the regular mainstream American sitcoms and music videos. If anybody can think of anything else, please add.
Out of place tourists? It won’t be quite right to single out people, call them tourists from other states, just by looking at the way they dress. Nevertheless, it’s kind of an obvious fact that men in quintessential Indian clothing(kurta/ pajama/dhoti) can be found everywhere in India.
A knife maker above wearing Puma sweatshirt(fake, of course), and a watch seller below.
I loosely connect the way this watch seller is wearing his watches, to this style that has been on the runway here at Jean-Charles de Castelbajac SS 11 show.
Although, multiple time pieces around the wrist is nothing new for fashion bloggers, and this style falls in the same category as the multiple belts - serving no real practical purpose…but still..interesting to document.
Next up : some of the most common men’s hairstyles in Shillong.
P.S. I know it’s kind of weird looking at all these winter photos in summer.
