If you ever visit Delhi for any work, a holiday or vacation, no matter how busy you be, and what makes your head to Delhi, the most common question which 90% of people will ask you is “Have you been to Sarojini Nagar?” And in the case your answer is “No”, get ready, you’ll be encountered by piles of questions just like the piles of clothes in Sarojini Nagar and certainly, you’ll be considered a real outsider from another planet.

And if you live in Delhi, or near to the Sarojini area, believe me, you’re the luckiest, especially if you’re a shopaholic. SAROJINI NAGAR is quite famous and familiar to every female in India. And this is why it’s known as “A girl’s shopping paradise” in India. Although there are many other well-known street shopping areas in India, it is considered No.1 and a reference and that is probably why Commercial Street, Bangalore is named “Bangalore’s Sarojini”. If you’ve never been to Sarojini, this is going to be very helpful to you and if you’ve already been there, this will help you know about it a little more. Scroll down to know more about Sarojini Nagar Market as this may help you experience a safe, satisfied and smart shopping!

History of Sarojini Nagar Market

Sarojini Nagar is in the South-west Delhi, close to Safdurjang airport. It’s called S.N sometimes by the residents who live nearby. It was established during the 1950s as a local marketplace to cater daily requirements to the Sarojini Nagar Government Colony residents.Till the late 1960s, this was a shopping complex known as ‘Vinay Nagar’ and after 1970s, this area was officially renamed as Sarojini Nagar after the name of Sarojini Naidu who was an Indian independence activist and the first lady to be elected as the President of the Indian National Congress.

What’s the big deal about S.N?

The big deal with Sarojini Nagar market is that you can find anything here, right from cute hair clips, vibrant western-wear to perfect ethics and trousseaux. And the bigger deal is you can find all of them at very cheap rates which make everyone’s mouth fall open. This is what makes it every girl’s favorite. Not just Indians, women from different countries who live here or come here for any purpose never miss the Sarojini shopping.

The only skill I suggest you acquire must before going to Sarojini Nagar is the skill of bargaining. Its no wrong to ask a piece for half its price or even less as they get them for very low prices than they sell.They get the stuff directly from the manufacturing factories in bulk and they pay no taxes, that is the reason for which they sell at cheap rates. Sometimes the defective pieces pop out too which are the rejected ones by factories and they get these at cheapest rates. These things are actually rejected by malls for having a slight wrong stitch or any such minor damage. So, the more you bargain, the more bags you can take home dancing.

How to shop in Sarojini Nagar?

1.Make a rough budget plan

Once you enter and start to shop in Sarojini Nagar it is likely that you get blindfolded and carried away by everything you see. This often may leave you disappointed if your expenditure goes way out of your expected budget. To prevent this, figure out how much you really wish to spend for a hunky-dory shopping. Note how many and which category of apparels you’re running short of and buy them first. Once you’re done with fulfilling your needs you can go for your wants with the leftover bucks. This will actually help you feel good every single time you go shopping.

2.Avoid the first shop buy

Sometimes, you may get naturally turned on seeing clothes or accessories at fewer rates and buy them at the very first shop you check in. But I suggest you not to do this unless you find it so reasonable and worthy.Instead move along and check adjacent or nearby shops in the lanes and compare the rates so that you can pick the one with least price. This apparently happens because most of them have same kinds of pieces sometimes and the price varies from one to the other. This also helps you find other better outfits nearby if any and you may save your money too!

3. Street Vs Mall

If you’re not a brand lover, it’s suggestible to buy on street shops than in the malls as you may find a great deviation in prices due to taxes and conditioned room maintenance. This only works for those who disregard the quality. If you’re lucky enough you may hit the jackpot of finding branded clothes like Zara, forever 21, h&m and much more on the street shops which happens with many who shop in Sarojini.Just imagine how annoying it’d be if you buy something in a mall and find the same on the street stall after you come out of it for half the price, nothing is more heart-breaking, right? .This is why street shops are to be preferred over malls. But if you’re really too much into quality it’s no wrong to try local shops who also avail good discounts at times.

4. Don’t miss piles and sales

There are many sellers sitting on the grounds of Sarojini spreading clothes or accessories to sell. Don’t forget to check them as you can sometimes find vibrant and lovely pieces from them. And do go and check every sale section in your field of view like sale 100 or 50 as they are really affordable and they avail many worth-buys!

5.Take time to filter

By this time, you might have understood the fact that there are chances for picking defective pieces.No matter how much you fall in love with the print, texture, color or fabric, you shouldn’t get tempted. Take few seconds to examine the piece once to check any defects like holes and faded patches.Sometimes, it gets too hard to resist but this actually helps you kick off the regrets post-shopping. On the other hand, there are cases where you find few things which blow your mind away but they may have a very minor damage. In that case, I suggest you buy and get it repaired by yourself or by giving to tailor according to the suitability.

Best-buys in Sarojini Nagar?

Sarojini Nagar is famous for shopping wide range of things which include clothes, accessories, footwear, home decors, gift items, craft stuff and street foods.

Clothing

Sarojini Nagar is every girl’s love for it has trendiest of clothes and extremely cheap rates. you can find super unique outfits if you are well aware how to choose them. One of the best buys from Sarojini is denim. You can find absolutely amazing denim over-alls, dresses, jackets, crop tops, dungarees, jeans and shorts for extremely low prices in Sarojini. The next I should say about spaghetti crop tops and slip dresses.

Sarojini Nagar has an incredible collection of crop tops and slips dresses and it gets really hard to hold your wallet when you pass by stalls where these are dangled.One more must check section should be of off-shouldered and cold-shouldered stuff. There are the ongoing trends as of now and Sarojini avails super cool stuff of these realms which include off-shouldered or cold-shouldered tops and dresses, cold-shouldered Kurtis and blouses etc.Along with these different beachwear, casual wear and ethnic wear which fulfill the wants of many girls can also be considered good buys from Sarojini. In fact everything over there is so cheap that you rarely regret buying something.

Accessories

Sarojini Nagar has jaw-dropping accessory collection besides heart-stealing apparels at extremely low prices of 100 or below.You can find a good range of neck-pieces especially, bohemian and silver colored jewelry which suit well with plain dresses and ethnics. Besides this, it also has a good collection of statement jewelry to wear for party wear by pairing up with one’s favorite one-piece.Along with these, ethnic earrings, chokers, belts and other basics are also available at low rates.You can also find super cool sunglasses, sling bags, and clutches here!

Footwear

I think Sarojini is a wonderful place to shop boots, sneakers, and bellies. The thing is, here you get a vast range of options to choose from and that too at so cheap rates that you lose self-control and end up spending too much.All you have to do is a hunt , hunt like an eagle, and start bargaining from the lowest possible price, this is the only trick for shopping here. You can find gorgeous leather strappy sandals, knee-high boots in browns and blacks, lots of patterned and textured bellies, flip-flops and what-not.Pick the right ones and move to the next portion of your shopping journey!

Home decors, bags & gift items

Sarojini Nagar, though famous for its apparels on the major side, is also famous for crafts, gifts and home decors. There are some speciality retail stores which sell pillowcases, bedsheets, and other related items. You can also find wall hangings, flower vases, handmade crafts, homeware, kitchenware and other home decoratives along with wide varieties of gift items to present to anyone you love.

Tips & suggestions 

1. Carry water bottle

As Sarojini is a very crowded area and you have to push and battle sometimes to move through the crowd.Moreover, you move from shop to shop eliminating few and finding new, you may feel extremely tired and dehydrated. So, it’s good to carry a water bottle along with you and get yourself hydrated every now and then for a happy shopping!

2.Take cash with you

This is a must remember. As you’re going for a street shopping unlike malls which have a number of payment options, you carry cash with you instead of cards as no stalls have card payment option there and very few of the retail shops have the option. So don’t get disappointed by taking your card.Carry enough cash with you.

3.Carry a backpack

Don’t forget to carry a bag or backpack of above medium size with you as this makes it easier to pick things and drop them into your bag saving the time of shopkeeper’s packing and you can avoid too many of polythene bags which you get in each and every shop.

4.Say no to auto

Unless you live near to the market, taking an auto for the entire distance could be more expensive than your shopping surpassingly! Instead, you can take the Metro to INA on the yellow line, and an auto from there. This will help you go with the actual budget shopping you dreamt of!

5.Timings

If you’re not okay with the crowd and if you feel it bothersome to shop in heavy crowds, you can go in the mornings. The usual timings of Sarojini Nagar are 10:00 am to 9:00 pm tentatively. So you can reach by the earliest time possible and come back home relaxed. But if you’re okay with the crowd and feel it fine to shop in crowds, I suggest you go in the afternoons as they sell the products at cheaper prices in the afternoons, sometimes even half the morning prices. So push yourself a little harder if you want to shop more at the cost of some comforts and efforts!

Additional Perks

I’m sure you’ll go crazy after your budget shopping in Sarojini at extremely satisfying rates. But you know what?There are additional benefits of shopping in Sarojini. All your friends and relatives keep asking you for your experience and you can make a YouTube video or write a blog describing your experience and depicting the items you bought there.

There are numerous such videos uploaded not just by the You-Tubers and bloggers but also many common women. Maybe this is the beginning, maybe you can give it a try.

The other fantastic thing you can do if you’re a DIY fan like me is, pick the products for your DIY projects like scarves, Dupattas, basic plain T-shirts, defective pieces (as they’re available at really cheap rates and you can DIY off the defective part) and DIY them into your favourite DIY outfits. This helps you be creative and to revamp your wardrobe frequently. One the whole, one thing no one can deny is SAROJINI MARKET NEVER DISAPPOINTS!