Grocery shopping is not only a necessity but also a little pleasure one can have for himself/herself. For some, it might be the new rice packets’ aroma, and for others, the biscuits and namkeens lined up on the shelves might be the main reason.
Last Sunday, I was doing the same thing — moving around one of the grocery stores in Dwarka Sector 14, Delhi, and trying to get just a few items for the whole week.
You see, it happens like this — one goes out to buy just a packet of tea and somehow returns with detergent, chips, three types of pulses, and a strange new munch that one has never seen before. My mother has always been saying, “Grocery lanes are like traps. You think you are clever, but you are not.” And she is so right indeed.
I have been visiting some grocery stores in this area recently, from the smaller family-owned ones to the larger chains. And honestly, the area of Dwarka Sector 14 has a great combination of both.
There are heavy wholesale grocery Dwarka Sector 14 shops where one can load up for a month— Gigantic bags of rice, large jars of oil, everything is piled up like a mini-warehouse. And there are the little shops that lovingly still give you toffee as your change and call you “beta.” Both have their own attractions.
One of the stores, which recently gained quite a lot of popularity, is Aap Ka Bazar.
It is not exactly a vegetable and fruit shop but rather a proper retail bazar — all sorts of items from daily essentials, and snacks, and even festive season gift packs. The best thing is that it gives a feeling of being modern yet native.
A person can purchase Diwali sweets and at the same time pick that trendy shampoo he/she saw in an advertisement. It reminds me of those family shopping nights when dad is busy counting prices, and mom is adding more things faster than he can count.
One day, I still remember, I went to Aap Ka Bazar after work because I had run out of my favorite instant coffee. It was almost 9 p.m. but the atmosphere was still very vibrant.
