Gundri Bazar in Darjeeling, which was a platform for Indian business during the Raj days, has now reinvented itself as an event to give opportunities to budding entrepreneurs after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gundri Bazar was the name of a daily market that was set up on the road around the Darjeeling Motor Stand and Chowk Bazar area in Darjeeling many decades back. With permanent structures being set up, Gundri Bazar died a natural death until Covid-19 revived it.

“We wanted to provide a platform to budding entrepreneurs who had returned home due to the pandemic. We started the first edition in 2020,” said Vikram Rai, founder of Vik-Run Foundation which jointly organises the event Gundri Bazar with Decibel, an event management unit.

The event is held without any government sponsorship and has turned into a self-sustaining event within three years giving stiff competition to government events, many of which are inconsistent.

“We have 42 stalls and the stall rents range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 7,000 for three days depending on the size. We earn around Rs 4 lakh from the stalls and it is enough to sustain the event,” said Rai.

The organisers need funds to set up the stage, lights, and sounds and a budget is set aside for their production unit.

“Over the years we have managed to buy our own tents and these are our assets,” said Mohanish Lama, owner and founder of Decibel.

The organisers, who are not taking home profits at the moment, are presently looking to strengthen the brand Gundri Bazar.

“Strengthening brand name is also important. We are already getting offers to organise Gundri Bazar in Calcutta. We have already organised this event at Siliguri,” said Lama.

Gundri Bazar is always held for three days starting from December 24 in Darjeeling. This, too, is helping them brand the fair as a calendar event of Darjeeling.

Infact, people from neighbouring areas have started attending the show. Three businessman friends from Kalimpong, Sanjay Agarawal, Amit Gupta and Prabhat Mittal were there at the fair.

“We were aware of Darjeeling’s Gundri Bazar but the variety of stalls at the event was very impressive,” said Amit.