Silver lining to grey markets lures Gen Y

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Notorious is always popular, isn’t it? Despite an official US report listing Nehru Place among the top 30 notorious IT markets of the world, Delhiites share they won’t stop going back to it and list other grey markets which are equally notorious but much loved as well.
Rachit Jain, entrepreneur, says, “Pallika Bazaar too is known for pirated stuff. I think no matter what you do, piracy for soft content is not restricted to physical markets anymore, it is out there on the Internet. Be it music, or movies, everything is available on the Internet, so I honestly think the markets no matter what they are in future going down. As far as hardware is concerned, people who need genuine will buy genuine stuff. And those who don’t will find ways to find a non-genuine product. At Nehru Place, you do get genuine stuff. It’s called grey because they do not pay custom or other taxes.”
For Gautam K.S., coffee specialist, going to such places is strictly off the list when he visits Delhi. “I know these places are cheaper and one can get value for money, but when I am alone I am scared to go here. I feel I will be cheated easily.”
IT professional Munir Ahmed recently purchased a laptop from Nehru Place and says he has no complains. “Having been to Delhi recently, my friend directed me to Nehru Place when I wanted to buy a laptop. I didn’t have any second thoughts and I placed my order at the showroom and the laptop was shipped from Chennai in a week’s time,” he says.
Calling Pallika Bazaar a bogus market, Munir adds, “I think everyone there wants to take you for a ride. A friend of mine went there to buy a trouser. The shopkeeper quoted Rs. 700, but within minutes my friend brought the price down to Rs. 150. I had also bought some CDs of popular international shows but none of them worked at home.”
Where else can you get pirated stuff at such an amazing price and regulars are aware of what they’re getting into. Media professional Dhiren Dukhu shares, “Nehru Place has the maximum number of IT dealers, both genuine and pirated, making it the one of the largest one-stop-shop for computer-related products in Asia. On one hand you get expensive original versions of software developed by US-based companies. On the other hand, there are pirated versions of the same software at dirt cheap prices. Like Windows 7 package original version costs around `7,000, while a pirated version will come for a few hundred rupees.”
Event manager Sankalp of B Events, adds, “As electronics and other items are changing at a rapid pace, most people prefer not to get original as forged or without warranty products are cheaper and they perform the same. Everyone wants to be upto date with technology and wants it at a best possible price. Pirated stuff comes in much earlier than an original. Ed Hardy came to India later. When Salman Khan made the brand popular, its replicas were soon available in Pallika Bazaar for `500-800. While the original tee costs around `8,000, a fake could be bought for just `500.”