Razack Market in Saidapet is 94 years old. If one revelled in platitudes and chose to assume a feel-good tone, they would say the market looks its age, and looks good. But that would be a blatant untruth. During a downpour, this market is at the mercy of the rain gods.
On September 6, when a whir of shutterbugs from Madras Photo Bloggers (as part of The Hindu Made of Chennai initiative to capture the city’s rhythms) gathered at the market to tell stories of the market in pixels, there was a sneaking fear that the rain could play spoilsport. The rain stayed away, and the cameras went a-whirring. The market has around 220 shops, each of them sporting an “extension” not out of expansionist motives. Shopkeepers have fitted tarpaulin covers to the edges of the Madras-tile roofing to keep sprinkles of rainwater from them, and more importantly from their customers.
Traders go about their business on a Saturday evening (September 6, 2025) at Saidapet market. | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
| Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
This market is worn-out both in body and sprit. A majority of the shops stayed closed on that Saturday evening. A shopkeeper notes only one-fourth of the shops stay open during the week, business having ceased to be brisk long ago. Sunday is when the market bustles with movement and haggling, as more shops have their shutters up.
