Charukesi at Indsight posts a set of pictures and narrates the sights and sounds of the Crawford Market in Mumbai, and what thrives below the high arches of the old:

At a time when ‘foreign’ goods were banned in India’s closed market through the 1980s, this was the spot where the discerning South Bombay shopper headed to pick up tins of Kraft cheese, packs of creamy Camay soap or electronic gadgets. And so today there are giant packs of Persil from Dubai, diapers from the US, pizza sauces from Europe – Crawford Market continues to stock everything from everywhere around the globe.