Grocery Shopping in Remote India

On my trips to India I enjoyed my trips to the open markets. In the remote areas of India, they don't have grocery stores as many in the Western world are accustomed to. Instead, they have these open markets where everything is for sale.

You simply walk through the area to see what the local vendors have for sale. These can be toys for children, clothing, food items, and household appliances and electronics. Almost anything they need in there every day life can be found in these open markets

In India, this is truly interesting to me. Not that I was so much interested in what they were selling , although I would buy something if it was unique, but it was more how they lived their lives. And to people watch, I love the way that they dress in the traditional ways. Now they weren't dressing in traditional clothing because this was a tourist area, because this was anything bought a tourist area. This is how they truly live their lives every day, and that is why I most enjoyed my visits to these places.

It's mostly the women that would dress in the traditional garments of India. The men in typical T-shirts and long pants. You wouldn't see a lot of people wearing shorts in these places because they need to protect themselves from the sun.

These were just simply makeshift areas where they would try to find some tarp they could hang above their heads to protect their goods and themselves from the sun and other elements..

Some areas were temporary. That is they would just set up a mat on the street somewhere and lay their goods on their mat. Then they would pack up and leave at the end of the day and bring all of their stuff back to their homes.

Other places are more permanent kiosks, where they would have a stand and sell from their personal stand. At night they would leave their goods there, but they would always sleep with their goods. There was no way to keep these kiosks secure so they must sleep with their goods every night to ensure they are not stolen.

The items for sale in these marketplaces are very cheap. Most of them are local goods because labor is so incredibly cheap here so are the goods that they make or produce or grow.

It is only the imported good that are expensive, but you won't see many imported goods in these remote markets. You would have to travel to the larger cities to buy most things imported.

I recall one of the things that I would buy in these markets would be toilet paper. It is very hard to find toilet paper in India because they don't use toilet paper, they use just water to clean themselves. But I always carried a couple of roles with me in my backpack when traveling.

But I noticed the goods produced there were of very low quality compared to what many of us are used to. For instance, the toilet paper would have so much glue on it, it would take half the roll before you could get all the glue from the role. Typically we are used to just a dab of glue on the first sheet, only to keep it from unraveling, but not so there.

Women going to market.

Of all the markets I've been to in all the countries I visited, I've enjoyed the open markets in India, the most. Mostly because it was more unique of an experience than the other markets I've been to, both in terms of how the people dressed and the variety of goods for sale.

There is one item that I would buy frequently from these markets to bring home with me, and that would be the spices. I would buy things such as turmeric, marsala and some of their pepper seasonings, and bring home with me. I would buy them not only because they were extraordinarily inexpensive, but also they were fresh.

This gives you a flavor of the open markets of India. A way of life in the remote areas of the country.