Prof. (Dr) R.D. Gupta
Quite akin to a number of ancient bazaars of the Jammu city, Talab Khatikan Bazaar also retains its age old magnetism, attraction and fervour. Being located in the heart of the Jammu city, this bazaar possesses its own glory and identity. Even a single visit to this bazaar / market acquaints one with the old traditions and culture that may exist there for last so many decades.
The word Talab Khatikan has been derived from two words viz; Talab and Khatik. It is said that there was a pond locally known as Talab in the area, around which an old tribe of Jammu city called Khatik used to dwell before 1947. They worked as leather tanner, over the years in this area and as such, it became as popular as Khatikan Da Talab or Talab Khatikan.
During early days, Talab Khatikan’s market was very small consisting merely of few shops, a mosque and a Talab in the middle. The market had a narrow unmetallic Kachapath. During the rainy season, it used to become very difficult to walk through the market. The people usually lived in single storey Kacha houses mostly made of mud which were scattered on a vast area. Talab Khatikan gained more importance, when the second Prime Minister of the Jammu and Kashmir late Bakshi Gulam Mohmad built a Jamia Masjid in this area during 1956, which became an attractive place for the people, especially for the brethren Muslims. With the passage of time, the bazaar of Talab Khatikan altered into a business hub and a number of shops and pacca narrow road were built in this market. This road is still in the same condition as it was earlier.
Hitherto Talab Khatikan was a Muslim dominated market and all business management used to come from various areas to run their business in the market. Now the market of the Talab Khatikan has developed to a large extent. This market, infact, has been surrounded by a number of bazaars namely Rajinder Bazaar, Pir Mitha Bazaar, Lakhdata Bazaar and Wazarat Road. In the middle of the market, there is Jamia Masjid. On the one side of the Wazarat Road, offices of the Deputy Commissioner, Tehsilar and custodian were situated. While on the other side of this road Residential Quarters of the Chief Minister and ministers are present, where they reside during winter when offices of the Secretriate move from Srinagar to Jammu. It is worthwhile to mention that these days, the Office of Tehsildar stands shifted to Trikuta Nagar. An other way of the Wazarat Road leads to Circular Road which enables to connect to National Highway at Nagrota / Sidhra Bridge or at second Tawi bridge as well as Chhani Himat, Gandhi Nagar, Trikuta Nagar, Sainik Colony, Jewel Chowk, old Tawi Bridge etc.
Presently, there are a number of shops which deal with religious books, especially belonging to Islam, Dhabas which provide Kashmiri Wazwan and other Kashmiri foods, grocers and meat shops and many others. There is a lot of change in this market with time. Whenever, I recall my those remarkable days when we used to go via this way to Hari Singh High School during April 1954 to February 1959, when life was very simpler than these days. However, not much modernisation has seeped in this market. At that time there were only about 12 to 16 shops. Now the market of the Khatikan Talab has developed to a large extent and all the basic amenities are available in this market. The night look of Talab Khatikan is quite different than other markets of Jammu city.
The market remains open till late night because of the presence of a number of hotels and Dhabas where every kind of non-vegetarian mouth watering dishes are available.Occurrence of Taj Hotel in the locality of Talab Khatikan also attracts many of the visitors. It is because of the availability of a lot of Kashmiri food including Wazwan. Not only this, people from various localities of Jammu also come here to relish these delicious food items. Moreover, many people visit the area to take for enjoying Tandoori Chiken, Seekh Kababs and Nooni Chai etc. The scene of the Jamia Masjid on Fridays capativates hundreds of people, who visit here for prayers. This adds to the buzz of the market.
(The author is Ex-Associate Dean cum Chief Scientist KVK, SKAUST-JAMMU)
