Kanika Datta: This 'kirana' is unbeatable

SWOT

Though the evidence is sporadic, it is becoming increasingly clear that, sadly, the rise of big retail is unlikely to contribute to the prosperity or longevity of small neighbourhood shops. But even as much sound and fury is expended over organised retail in Raisina Hill, and in the streets of Lucknow and Kolkata, it may be time to celebrate a truly unique retail concept that shows little sign of succumbing to this new-fangled competition.

I am referring to Kolkata's 130-odd year-old "New Market", officially Hogg Market. Named after Sir Stuart Hogg, chairman of Calcutta Corporation (in the days when the institution counted for something) and one of the major sponsors of the plan, it boasts a retail model that none of the new retail chains has been able to replicate.

Like many of the new organised retailers today, New Market was conceived of as an upscale market for the British and, presumably, rich Indians to shop for exclusive brands and products. Certainly, like so much that the British built, the elegant and vaulting architecture "" or what little is visible of it today "" of solid red brick porches and the trademark clock tower was intended to suggest exclusivity. The architect was reportedly paid Rs 1,000 for his services.

In its early days New Market was so markedly different from the other markets in Calcutta, as it was known till the late nineties, that ordinary Bengalis referred to it as Saheber Bajaar (Sahib's market).

Luckily, democratic, independent India changed all that, bringing New Market down to earth, a factor that certainly contributed to its uniquely attractive personality. To be sure, by the sixties, New Market derived some elitism from the fact that Smart Set who lived and partied in south Calcutta shopped there. But in Calcutta, unlike Delhi, a locality does not necessarily denote social status and, happily, New Market attracted buyers and sellers from all strata of society.

By the seventies, New Market's elegant exterior fought a losing battle with the hodge-podge extensions by Calcutta Corporation. Shopping here stopped being a cachet. People came here not because it was fashionable but because it was useful. After all, no other market could allow you to shop for all "" literally all "" your needs quite as comprehensively as New Market did. No modern retailer has matched that feat yet.

Here is a random but authentic selection of what you can buy under New Market's crowded and chaotic roof: meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, hand-made shoes, a bouquet of flowers, lace and ribbons, spices, furnishings, Benarasi saris, smoked cheese, stationery, Jewish unleavened bread, handbags, inner-wear, cosmetics, sports goods, jewellery, silverware....

No sophisticated wire push-carts are available to carry this bounty around its uneven cobbled pathways. Instead you have coolies, ranging in vintage from young boys to elderly men, who will willingly transport all of this to your car for a fee that depends entirely on the goodwill of the shopper.

Blessed with unimpaired good humour and unshakeable honesty, the coolies are integral to the New Market experience. Most follow a strict code and rarely encroach on the other's regular customers. They can be trusted to, say, buy a dozen eggs for you in andewali gali (the egg lane) abutting the meat market, where thousands of sellers sit alongside rows of naked light bulls to allow customers to check the produce even as memsahib is fitted for a new pair of shoes cleverly crafted by Chinese shoemakers. Or he can do your regular store shopping and load up the car while you browse through Chamba Lama's incredible range of Tibetan junk jewellery or stop by Nahoum's, the landmark Jewish bakery, for its peerless almond macaroons.

These men are truly incredible. You may move away from the city for years, grow old and unrecognisable to acquaintances. Visit New Market and, if your regular coolie is still around, he'll accost you with a huge grin of recognition and total recall of your old haunts and requirements.

New Market withstood the ravages of a fire in the mid-eighties, when part of the original building was destroyed and resurrected as a jerry-built structure optimistically called "New" New Market. Testimony to its sustained popularity lies in an underground car park that was recently constructed to cope with the traffic anarchy that is a regular feature of a visit here.

To be sure, New Market may be impacted by the shiny new retailers offering sanitised air-conditioned environments and unbeatably low prices. But my prediction is that the impact will be minimal, not least because of the sheer variety of goods available under one roof and the wholly enjoyable shopping experience.

Kishore Biyani, who represents the new generation of retailers, once shrewdly remarked to Wall Street Journal that Indians felt more at home in shopping environments that are chaotic rather than sterile and organised. New Market, with its thousands of mom-and-pop shops, gives his chaos theory a whole new meaning.