Steal Deals

Visiting Chor Bazaar (Thieves Market), I passed through an assortment of second-hand tool stalls dealing in drill bits, rimmers, grinding bits and so on. Their customers include engineering companies, automotive workers, builders and industrial manufacturers, to whom they sell in bulk or piece-wise. Stock is often obtained at auction (with goods sometimes arriving from more affluent countries) to be sold on here. Items are commonly re-used and sometimes re-purposed to perform different functions to which they were specifically designed. 

Further down the alley I noted tools made with REcultured handles and blades. Handles are formed mostly from old wooden pillars and bamboo while blades come from a variety of sources including the heavier parts of automobile bodies.

I was intrigued by different stall owners' versions of the name Chor Bazaar. Some said it was originally Char (4) Bazaar which referred to the four lanes (which have now expanded to 7) selling antiques, clothing, automobile parts and tools. Others told me it was derived from Shor (Loud) Bazaar – highlighting the rowdy nature of a busy, urban market. And then there's the more obvious assumption that the market sells "chori ka maal" (stolen goods) with some saying that you trace all things that go missing in Mumbai to Chor Bazaar – I doubt that, but some deals you get there could well be described as a steal!