As the year comes to a close, I remember the Cox Town Market at Bangalore and the memories of an era gone by and only the great New Year fair at Cox Town which still endures.
My family moved into Hutchins Road, Cooke Town in 1965 and the local market was the Cox Town Market, if you did not get stuff here then you would go the big brother Russell Market and if you wanted more aggressive deals to the City Market.
The shopkeepers spoke excellent English at Cox Town Market and though it was a small market it had almost everything you needed to run your home. The tall rain trees always kept the market cool and shady and I still remember there was a cycle stand outside the gates of the market.
The opening and closing time was 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., afternoon break and then 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the dot and on Sunday’s it would be closed; actually the huge metal gates would open and close at the given time like clockwork.
The best memories of the Cox town market is the New Year Fair, the market and the road and the tree would be lit for the evening fair, though the crowds would start assembling from 4 p.m. right through the night.
People of all walks of life would overflow from the footpath onto the road which was closed to traffic for the New year Eve fair. The old and young would haggle with the hawkers all set for this one big day who would line both sides of the road from Cox Town market all the way to Cox Town Circle. The whole area had a festive air and we would make it a point to visit the fair year on year to buy some trinkets and other stuff from the vendors. There used to balloons, masks, bows and arrows, guns, all sorts of clay figures, eats and cakes and whole lots of other stuff on sale and the final price depended on your ability to haggle with the road side sellers. It used to be a cacophony of noise with trumpets, stringed instruments, drums and all sort of musical instruments including whistles and blow horns all going together with the church bells ringing at midnight to usher in the New Year.
The shops were not many, as you entered the gate were the provision stores and on the left corner I remember the fruit and vegetable shop and at the end of the market was the butcher and at the entrance on the right the fish shop. The fruit display was awesome and so was the display at the vegetable shop. There were stone barriers put up at the gate to keep out cycles and the cattle from coming into the market. One outstanding feature of the Cox Town Market was it was always kept clean.
The shops had beautiful tiled roofs and lovely granite support for the roofs and plastered walls made of brick, the whole market had an imposing feel and looked like it would last forever.
The best times in the Cox town market was when there were the unpredictable cloud bursts of Bangalore and you had to take shelter in the shops till the rain stopped. These are wonderful memories the rain hitting the tiled roofs and cascading down into a torrent neatly into the gutter provided for taking the rain water away. The huge trees around the market would continue to drip water even after the rains stopped and the pungent smell of the fresh earth, the meats, poultry, fishes, spices and others in the market would really bring one’s sense alive and if it was in the late afternoon as you cycled home you would wade through the aroma of fresh baking Thomson’s Bakery.
Opposite the market was the Cox Town Ladies Gymkhana, with its tennis court and next to it the Frazer Town Police Station (I wondered why this was not called Cox Town Police station, though it was situated in no man’s land between Cox Town and Frazer Town boundaries). The police station was an imposing building made of granite and very grand and forbidding. Towards the Cox Town circle were a few imposing bungalows (all demolished now) and across the road there was the Church. There was also the Municipal Hospital at Cox Town and the Cox Town Girls School run by the municipality.
At about 3.30 p.m. everyday other than Sundays the air would be filled with the aroma of fresh baking from the Thomson’s Bakery. The Thomson’s Bakery too was English and Bread Paper was used to wrap the bread and milk buns which were outstanding, The best season for the Thomson’s Bakery was Christmas, New Year and Easter, when you would get the best from the bakers.
The old Cox Town market has been demolished and replaced with a new concrete structure, with this simple act the historical landmark of an era gone by has been buried forever.
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