Bangaloreans were spoilt for choice at the Sunday ‘Soul Sante’ held at ITPB Grounds. With more than 200 stalls at the flea market, there was something in store for customers of all age groups.
Some of the stall owners were at their creative best even in naming the outlets. For instance, ‘Sweetest Thing’ and ‘Honeyday’ stalls sold desserts and honey respectively. The flea market provided a platform for many budding entrepreneurs and homemakers.
Many stall owners had put up their stalls out of passion for art work and to give their creativity a commercial outlet. ‘Ribbon Factory’, another stall, was an exclusive store for handcrafted hair accessories. Ribbons of all sizes and colours, each with a unique design, adorned the stall. Girls, forgetting how young or old they were, made a beeline for the store. College girls too were fascinated with the ribbons and bought a collection of these.
Those who thought options to buy stuff made of recycled material were limited, were proven wrong. One such stall was ‘Silvernut Tree’. Owned by Angeline and Rituparna, the store was full of surprises. “We believe that going green can be fun and one doesn’t have to compromise on style just because you have chosen eco-friendly material. Keeping this in mind, we started our outlet about one-and-a-half-years ago. We sell earrings, ash trays and accessories made out of glass, plastic and CDs as these are hazardous to nature. Most of these products are not disposed of properly. So, we collect them and make use of them in this way.”
Some stall owners were taking part for the first time. Regular visitors to ‘Soul Sante’ cheered the fact that it was different from the one held last time. Rajini, a homemaker, enjoys going to flea markets.
She said, “I make sure to attend ‘Soul Sante’ because I like to use different creative decorative pieces in my house. This year it was a delight to come here as new stalls have come up.”
The high point of the day was a music performance by the Rao sisters – Suneeta and Aarti. Film-maker and comedian Saad Khan entertained the crowd while a performance by Parvaaz and Palmfret kept the audience grooving to their foot-tapping numbers.
According to the show organisers, over 1,000 people visited the ‘Soul Sante’.