The Cycle Sunday Market in Peshawar

Haroon Rashid

BBC Urdu

The sunday or friday markets dealing with everyday household goods are not that much popular in the provincial metropolis of the Frontier; Peshawar, as compared to the other cities in Pakistan. Surprisingly, there is one such Market near Sadar Bazaar that is doing quite well since over forty years; the Cycle Market. Hundreds of people get together in the 'Stadium' area near Sadar early in the morning to buy or sell bicycles of different nature. Whether they are Sport Bikes, China Made Bikes, Stolen Bikes or something else, chances are that you will find them here.

Lying on a Charpoy in a corner of the Bazar is Bora Khan who has been running this Bazar regularly since forty years on contract basis. Bora Khan insists that this is the Bazar of the Poor. "The first time I took up the contract I used to pay 30 rupees per month. Now I have to pay 21,000 per month to the Cantonment Board." When Asked how much he earns, he replied, "I charge commission fees worth fifteen or twenty rupees from every person who sells his bicycle on the premises."

On the side of the road is a long queue of bicycles where they are judged and looked over by potential buyers. Some of the buyers come to the market from as far as Mardan or Charsadda. According to Bora Khan, "This market maintains its uniqueness because this is the sole market throughout the province where only bicycles are sold. A typical day will be as much as fifty or sixty sales."

One of the buyers roaming around the Bazar is Ziarat Gul who is searching for a cheap bike for his school going son. He says that the bikes sold here are very cheap hence many people come here.

A young person named Safiullah is waiting for customers so that he can sell his sports bike which he had bought initially for 3000 rupees. He says that he had bought the bike because it was his hobby but now is ready to sell it at 2,500. "I am through with my hobby thats why I am selling it," He said.

Apart from the traditional buyers/sellers are also people who stroll the markets every week looking for cheap bargains. Upon finding a good and cheap specimen they will then re-sell it at a much higher price. Looking for such opportunities is Inamullah who eyes each buyer/seller with an eager shopkeeper like manner. Inamullah says that after spending a few hours in the Bazar, he is able to sell one or two bicycles and thus earn anything from a hundred to two-fifty rupees. When asked what kind of bicycles are more famous amongst buyers he pointed out the China ones because of their sturdity.

There are even a few fake-brand bicycles on sale at the market too but sellers will never admit that their ones are fake. A buyer named Abdul Khaliq states that a few bicycles which are made in Pakistan are actually being sold with Chinese Brand names.

From Nine in the morning to One or Two in the Afternoon, bikes of all types and nature are sold here. After this time all transactions are put on hold till the next week and like this the cycle goes on and on.