Ashok Nagar Vending Zone: Our First Visit

Ashok Nagar Vending Zone is essentially a fruit market. It is located opposite “Sri Leather”, near Unit 2 market in one of the busiest parts of Bhubaneswar.  

Its many vendors conduct brisk business from early in the morning to late in the evening. On our trips we found that the vendors are friendly and accommodating when we want to have long conversations with them, they even manage to go about their business while allowing us to interview them.

Their warm smiles and attempts to communicate with us in broken Hindi have endeared them to the non-Odia speaking members of our team. In our lengthy discussions we learnt that most of the vendors in the Ashok Nagar Vending Zone would not have chosen to run a fruit shop if they had been given an alternative but they all seem to have accepted their current position in life and are making the best of it.