GHY 01: Fish Market

Guwahati is termed as the Gateway to the Northeast and rightly so. The city has been witnessing throughout the ages the rise and fall of dynasties, of kingdoms, of people who came as invaders and explorers and laid the foundations of a great cultural melting pot. Many have given the city a name they think would fit the time and epoch they live in. Gauhati, Guahati, Goahawtee, Gohatti are some of the more popular ones. But ‘GHY’ remains as the numero uno choice for Guwahati’s abbreviation.

If you are a regular to the Railway Colony Market, Bamunimaidam, you will recognize this place. This was the fish market. From its inception in the early 1950s until 2005, this place used to be teeming with sellers and buyers, fighting and bargaining for the best catches of the day. The quality of the fishes was top-notch, and so was the chaos. In the early 70s, my father used to purchase ‘Singi Fish’ for Rs. 2.5/kg. In the 90s, when I started accompanying him to the shed, prices rose to about Rs. 12/kg. The present rate would be around Rs. 600/kg. This building was my first exposure to markets and varieties of fresh-water fishes.

The abrupt change post-2005 changed the whole dynamics of the Guwahati city.

In the evenings, the market’s orange bulb-lit visage wore a completely different scene. Fish scales resembled silver treasures, and when filleters run a rough piece of wood on them, they would scatter everywhere. Proof of your visit to the market were those treasures that landed on your sleeves or the front pocket. Far and wide, there would be colourful bags. Some would hold them in their hands, rolled like shawarma. A few would put them under their armpits while their hands inspect the gills. The raised platform was 2 ft higher than what it is now. The floor bore marks of shoddy re-construction work. Unfortunately, the non-maintenance of the shed forced the sellers to look elsewhere. It's now a mere shadow of its former glory.

A beautiful reminiscence.