Old Habits Die Hard

Hundreds of Delhi residents might have found their dream houses in Gurgaon but they haven’t gotten over with their Delhi hangover yet. For them ‘daily needs’ have changed into ‘weekly needs’ and a weekend trip to Delhi is a must for buying mutton, soaps, pulses and in some cases vegetables, too.
Rajesh Kalra, a resident of DLF Phase III, does his shopping from Delhi. “I first lived in Daryaganj and then moved to South Delhi. I feel comfortable buying stuff from there. In Gurgaon, you don’t have the comfort factor. I know my old kiryana shopkeeper won’t cheat me,” Kalra, who still goes to his old barber in Green Park market, said.
Ankit Batra of Shri Morning Palace, a retail store in E-block market Hauz Khas, said, “We have customer who have been buying stuff for the past 40 years. Some have shifted to Gurgaon but they come on weekends here.”
Before shifting to Sushant Lok, Akshay Saxena lived in Malviya Nagar. “I still go to Malviya Nagar for shopping. In Gurgaon, there is little option of buying daily need items within the colony. One has to go to far off places where parking is a hassle. So I go to my old shops in Delhi.”
Same is the case with former East Patel Nagar and Rajinder Nagar residents who have shifted to the Millennium City. “Most of my customers come from Gurgaon to buy fish, mutton and chicken,” Sanjay, owner of Sanjay Meat shop at Pusa Road, said. Most of them call him up in advance to ensure they don’t return empty hand. His USP – apart from mutton, chicken and varieties of fish, he also sells ducks and turkey.
"All our household items are bought from Hauz Khas market. Actually we are so comfortable with our kiryana store there that even after shifting to Gurgaon for so many years, we make it a point to go to Delhi for our daily needs stuff," says the DLF phase II resident.