Roadside Shops near Jaipur

It’s difficult to gauge the actual size of India’s economy because of the many “off the grid” businesses you find there.  I would bet almost none of the economic activity you see on this page is reported to the Indian Revenue Service.  To me it’s possible that India’s GDP might be double (if not more) that which is actually reported.

While driving through Rajasthan, I had my camera at hand to document some of what I saw.  For example, it seems all barber shops in the country are located along a road.

01 Roadside shops, Jaipur

02 Roadside shops, JaipurThere were lots of places to buy snacks and food.  No one needed to go hungry if they had a few coins to spare….

03 Roadside shops, Jaipur

04 Roadside shops, Jaipur

05 Roadside shops, Jaipur

06 Roadside shops, Jaipur

You’ll find an amazing variety of other products — almost anything you can imagine is purchasable, including woks….

07 Roadside shops, Jaipur

Pottery….

08 Roadside shops, Jaipur

09 Roadside shops, Jaipur

Even sheets of marble….

11 Roadside shops, Jaipur

Besides studying roadside commerce, I was entertained to see what would roll by on a motorcycle.  The bike below had just a couple and their shopping aboard, but often you’d see whole families riiding around on a motorcycle.  My personal record was, amazingly, six people on one cycle (mostly kids).

12 Roadside shops, Jaipur

Share the Post:

Featured Destination

Comments

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
3 years ago

You’re quite right about the small number of enterprises that pay taxes. A principal reason for this is the paltry salaries of tax inspectors, combined with the labyrinthine legal structures to enforce tax law.

One smart employee could tie up the state lawyers for decades, or more efficiently, contribute to the black money fund needed to support the inspectors family and pay for exorbitant wedding costs !

Gumbo's Pic of the Day

The View North

I was visiting a friend, and this was the view from their house. I could understand why they built their house facing this direction. I was taken by the beauty!

Read More

Posts by the Same Author