Shops on the pavement

A study of the Indian retail sector – an unconventional view
by Prof. Prabir Guha, Globsyn Business School.

The travel brochure says, “To see India, take a walk down the street. If the marauding motorists bother you, step on to the pavement.” The travel brochure should have said, “… step on to the pavement, if you can”! In most Indian cities it is well nigh impossible to walk on the pavements, which incidentally had at one time been built for the pedestrians.

Pavements today are not meant for walking. They are safe havens for the destitutes who do not have a roof over their heads. They, in fact draw chalk marks on the pavements to demarcate their own properties from those of their neighbours. Pavements also offer refuge to all urban animals, like the bovine, canine and feline varieties. Cracks in the pavements are ideal hideouts for hibernating reptiles and other such creatures. After sunset the pavements also become car parks in select localities. Whether they pay the corporation taxes is another matter!

More importantly, the pavements are shopping centres. From fake Rolex watches to genuine Bombay Dyeing bed-sheets, you name anything and it is available. Not only all kinds of goods, but also all kinds of services are available like medical advice, astrological predictions and car repairs. Besides all the wares, the pavements also offer entertainment. Small time magicians, contortionists, violinists and skull massagers all find place to do business.
The ubiquitous chai-shops are plenty with their customers hovering around the makeshift kitchens. The Indian cuisine is extremely varied and the only place they all converge is on the pavement. The south Indian dosa is sold in close proximity to the Punjabi tandoori and not very far from the Bengali rosogolla or the Mumbai bhelpuri. All these foods are however cooked and served on the pavements and the utensils are washed in the small no-man’s land between the pavement and the street that also doubles as the roadside drain.

The largest malls cannot match the variety of wares or services or entertainment that a two kilometers stretch of the pavement can offer.

But then what happens to the pedestrians? How do they walk? Well, they don’t! At least not on the pavements! They walk on the streets, jostling for space with the cars, the rickshaws, the cyclists and the many creatures of burden. The people walking on the streets cause accidents, but then that does not mean that the pavements will in the near future be handed over to the pedestrians.
Countless political parties in their election manifestos have promised to remove the shopkeepers from the pavements. I would stick to the term ‘shopkeepers’ and not use the derogatory term ‘hawkers’; because these retail outlets are just shops and these shopkeepers do not hawk their wares. They display them. They are not hawkers anymore. They have fairly permanent structures, conform to certain systems, have electric connections, pay taxes and are well recognized. The political parties, of course, at the time of forming the governments discreetly choose to forget what they promised. This however is not news! Sometimes one can see contingents of the police force armed with shields and batons come charging and demolish the shops, arrest the shopkeepers and cause momentary mayhem. Next day, things are back to normal again.

But why cannot the shops that crowd the pavements be demolished? Why is it that the governments and the police forces cannot do anything about it? What makes these shopkeepers so invincible? Is it their financial strength or is it their political clout?

The answer lies somewhere else. These shops cannot be demolished because the people want it that way. These shops occupy a certain well-defined niche in the Indian retailing sector.

The Indian shoppers are of a special breed; the like of which is not easily spotted in the rest of the world. They are very distance conscious. They abhor the idea of driving or cycling or walking a distance to get their things. They want their things at their doorsteps. They also like to be cajoled with the feeling that whenever they buy anything they always get a deal and get the better of the shopkeeper. Whether they get it or not is a different matter; but they usually do not like to go to places that proclaim doing business on fair and non-negotiable terms. They also like to have small conversations with the shopkeepers and exchange ideas on any subject under the sun, the graver the better. Time for shopping and time for socializing merge into one endless expanse of timelessness.

On top of everything, the Indian shoppers are price sensitive and would not like to pay a penny more than the minimum.

The shop on the pavement satisfies all these unwritten demands of the Indian shoppers. And that is why as soon as the new houses spring up in any virgin area, the shop on the pavement evolves out of the vast vacuum immediately – almost always before the roads and the pavements are made. The pavements are often built under the shops with special care to see that their daily business is not hampered.

But then, is there no way to rid the pavements of these shopping arcades? Can nothing be done to restore the pavements to their rightful users, the pedestrians? Yes, something can be done. The answer lies with the people.
The problem can be solved overnight. The people have to decide not to buy things from these shops on the pavements. If the people stop buying, the shops will move away to greener pastures. No shopkeeper worth his salt will ever stay at a place where the people do not buy. And with the shifting of the shops; the destitutes, the urban animals and the reptiles will also move away leaving the pavements for the sole use of the pedestrians. Oh! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?