Fresh catch and a bit of Bengali

The crowded streets of Buffer Zone, Sector 15 in Karachi are bustling with activity. Located in one of the congested streets and comprising some 60 shops is the Bangali Paarra Market, known as the cheapest fish market for the freshest catch in Karachi.

“Tomara ki darakar” [what do you need], “Saharera sera machha,” [best fish in town] the fishmongers call out to the customers in Bengali. The fishmongers and most of the customers in this market are ethnic Bengali people, originating in the Indian state of Bengal, who had lived in either West Pakistan or East Pakistan prior to 1971 or who migrated from Bangladesh after 1971.

A variety of fish in different sizes, colours, and shapes are draped over the shop counter tops in rows. Water that the fishmongers liberally slosh on the fish to refresh it through the day drips from their tails. This smelly water dripping from the counters finds its way down to make puddles in the muddy street, which is partially covered with tarpaulin or plastic sheets to keep the sun out.

Undeterred by the strong, all-pervasive smell of fish in the air, and jumping over puddles in the street to step on the congested footpath to talk to a fishmonger, you can choose exactly which fish shop you want to haggle or buy fish from.

“Macha ki daam?” [How much for the fish?], asks a customer standing on the plinth of the shop. “Kaun macha?” [Which fish?], replies the fishmonger. These are most oft-repeated lines in the market between fishmongers and customers. The customer selects from the wide variety of fish and the shop assistants cut and clean the fish according to the customers’ needs.

“I am not sure exactly when my father got this shop but I have been helping him since I was five and now I am 40 years old,” says Muhammad Imran, pausing to turn around and instruct his assistants in Bengali about how the customer wanted the fish to be cut. “We don’t only employ Bengali workers, but mostly our relatives or friends want to work with us so we employ them.”

Fish lovers from all walks of life go to the Bangali Paarra Market, but most of the customers are Urdu-speaking or Biharis, who also speak Urdu, while some may speak or understand Bengali.

Almost every shop has a similar wide variety of fish such as the carp family including carp or seem maai, rohu, mrigal or white carp, silver carp, trout, palla, Mahaseer, dwarf snakehead or channa gachhua, dhotar or Javelin Gunter, pomfret, and surmai or seer fish, which are sold at similar but fixed prices.

“I have around 10-12 types of fishes on the counter top right now,” says Imran, another fishmonger, swishing away flies with a rag tied to a wooden stick. “On other days, there are around 20 types of fishes ranging from Rs 200 per kg to Rs 2000 per kg, as well as prawns from Rs 900- 2500 in price ranges. Most of the customers don’t buy expensive fish, so we keep those in lesser quantities. ”

Like other fishmongers, Imran also has a deep freezer to store fish to keep it fresh. Some shop owners also have their own boats going to the sea and promise fresh catch available daily at competitive prices.

The day begins before sunrise for the fishmongers of the Bengali Paarra market, who daily get up at 4 am to go to the fishery or the wholesale fish market near Mereweather Tower. It is a tough and hectic task, but it has to be done early so that by 9 am, they have purchased their daily quota of fish and return to open their shops in the market.

“We have to reach the fishery really early or else we can’t get good quality fish,” says Imran, who lives in Machhar Colony and owns a rickshaw which he parks right outside the shop. He and his workers who are also his cousins use it to commute and to bring fish to the market.

Buying fish on wholesale rates and selling it at a higher price in the market enables them to meet their expenses.

“We make a profit of at least Rs100-200 per kg on the fish we buy on wholesale rates,” says Sohail. “We have to manage domestic expenses, shop expenses, workers’ salaries, and even the cost of our daily commute.”

It is a long day for these fishmongers. “We close up here around 9 pm, but after clean-up of the counter and freezers, I don’t leave for home until 10 pm,” says Imran.

They sell more fish in winter as compared to other times of the year, because people like to eat fish in cold weather as it is considered nutritious and keeps the body warm. If business is good at a fish stall, the average sale could go up to 50kg while on a bad day, it may be not more than 10-15kg.

Despite living a difficult life and without an alternative livelihood to help them get by in summer, these fishmongers mostly closed down their shops in June and July every year, when due to dangerously high tide, boats are not allowed to go to the sea. “Since there is no fishing, we use the money saved in winter to run our domestic expenses,” shares Sohail adding that some fishmongers buy prawns in bulk and sell them in June and July because closing down completely is not possible as they have to give salaries to their workers.

People come to the Bangla Paarra Market not just for fish, but also to shop for their daily groceries. “I buy all my groceries here,” says Ghulam Ahmed, a 62-year-old customer, who has been shopping here for 25 years. “I don’t buy from a fixed shop, but purchase from any shop that offers a good rate. It is a good place to buy fish because being Bengalis, they have an eye for fish and know the quality of the fish in a way others don’t. Not just that, because there are so many shops here, there is competition among them and if they don’t sell good quality, they can’t survive in this market.”

Bengali Paarra is not just a market, but a system that helps the community living nearby who are connected to the market through employment or daily-wage jobs. There are many minors roaming around the shops who offer to clean fish and prawns at a nominal fee.

“Are you buying prawns? I can clean them in 10 mins,” says 12-year-old Jasmine, her head covered in a red dupatta and prawn scales stuck on her hands. Her family lives at a five-minute walking distance from the market.

“My mother and I do this cleaning for Rs 40 per kg,” she adds. “My father also cleans fish at a shop in the market. I go to school in the morning and come to market after 1pm.”

My first highlight of the day was buying fresh catch and affordable price, the second was to meet Jasmine and to learn that she goes to school. Hopefully, she will have her own fish shop in the future, on modern lines or perhaps she will opt for another career. The important part is that she is getting educated. With those happy thoughts, I scurried home to prepare my bounty from the sea.