Zaveri Bazaar (Akshada Bhalerao)

Old is gold…!

The once famous gold street, Zaveri Bazaar, is now just reduced to being a two time blasted site and a crowded hawker zone. Akshada Bhalerao tracks how the golden lane was looted of its heritage.

Once upon a time, there was a golden street where jewel artists would display their artworks and the people would buy those jewels to adorn their pretty wives and to secure their future with this investment. On the romantic premises of the ‘town’ area of Mumbai, the street named Zaveri Bazaar continued to follow its path of intricate jewellery staying true to its name. And they all lived happily ever after…

However the story of Zaveri Bazaar does not continue this way today. The street, famous for its gold and silver jewellery, seems to have lost its shine. It does no longer have the flock of families buying jewellery nor does it have the ancestral jewel shops. Imitation jewellery shops settle in while the streets are taken over by hawkers.

The heritage

The street is located in the Churchgate area and is one of the many market places of Mumbai. Mumbai had specific market places or rather market lanes which were famous for the goods they sold. Of the many markets in town like Kapada Bazaar, Nal Bazaar, Crawford Market, etc., each famous for its own specialty, Zaveri Bazaar has proudly taken its place on the right side of Jhama Masjid for years.

The golden street has seen many a things in its existence, some good and some very destructive. The street has been the victim to one of the 93 blasts and another one in 2005. The two blasts though haven’t shaken up the spirit of people here. They have no fear of another attack in them and nor do they keep the wound of the blast alive. One of the shopkeeper who has seen both the blasts says, “Tiger Memon used to come here in the nearby building. The blast took place in the nearby corner and I was in my shop the time it happened. There was chaos. When the next blast happened, I was not there but I imagine the situation would have been the same.”

It’s because of these bomb explosions that Zaveri Bazaar is a fairly known name. But the street has more to it, it has history and charm. The Punjabi Sodhi casts’ people first set up their business here. Majority of the businesses here are ancestral following the traditional method of jewellery making. The craftsmen were the local Maharshtrians, specialized in intricately designing the ornaments. The credibility of these shops was so much that Zaveri Bazaar soon earned the name of the most authentic and sole place to buy gold. Another aspect that made Zaveri Bazaar numero uno for gold hunting was the entire feel and experience of the street. There was enough space for parking. A local shop owner also claims, “The streets were cleaner then. BMC would actually wash the street clean once a week.”

The card shuffle

But the thread of ancestral business soon started to wither, taking away the identity of original Zaveri Bazaar. “My Chartered Accountant daughter and Engineer son both don’t want to run the business my father started ages ago. I have no option but to sell my shop as I can no longer take care of it”, says Arvind Thakkar, owner of a 90-year-old shop in Zaveri Bazaar. Like him most of the shop owners sold their shops. Others shifted to suburban areas to grab the opportunities there. The Maharashtrian craftsmen were replaced Bengali ones. Currently only two-three original gold jewellery shops exist in all of the Zaveri Bazaar. Marwadi community, not the initial Sodhis, owns all others.

The fake side

Few more things that settled in Zaveri Bazaar were imitation jewellery shops and hawkers, taking away the golden feel of the street completely. Now instead of shops laden with gold there are imitation jewellery shops that have taken away the shine of the street. “It hurts to see imitation jewellery shops where in the same shop our friends would sell the real thing. What is even more saddening is that the streets are now encroached by hawkers. They’ve eaten up the beauty and credibility of Zaveri Bazaar.” Says Ujjwal Zaveri, a silver articles trader from Zaveri Bazaar. On the other hand, post bomb blast people have lost confidence in Zaveri Bazaar. Regular customers are being lost since they fear coming to this crowded place for any work let alone shop for gold. Moreover, the growing fad of brands is taking them away from the traditional jewelers. The craft is getting lost and so is the creativity of the artist. With the standard imitation jewellery available in bulk, there is no space for custom made fine jewellery. It takes a long time to create a unique craftwork and also, making charges are included. Hence, the craftsmen are being denied work. Jewellery today is not a possession to be made with love and care and cherished for a lifetime but just an ornament with whom there is no personal attachment whatsoever.

With the lack of original gold and customers, Zaveri Bazaar, the ‘crowned’ street now lays dethroned…