KARACHI: The Children’s Market, organised by TDF MagnifiScience Centre on 22nd February, offered many fun activities and entertainment, not to mention some really nice bargains, at stalls run by talented young entrepreneurs.
There were many imitation jewellery stalls, food stalls, games stalls, art and handicraft stalls and so much more.
Soon after entering one ran into Naveera Sadaf, Urwa Asif and Arbish Asif selling bracelets and homemade biscuits. The girls, two of whom were sisters, had their mothers to thank for introducing them and hence joined forces in setting up a stall at the Children’s Market.
In fact, it seemed that behind every successful stall there stood an encouraging mother, as they remained at hand in case their children needed any help or guidance.
Selling food items with her little boy Dawood Nabeel at a stall called ‘Burr Eato’, Sarah Gul was buying pizza slices and brownies from other stalls. Asked why she was buying from others when she herself had plenty of food to offer, Gul replied that she wanted to support the other entrepreneurs also. Meanwhile, young Azlan was walking around selling pizza slices for Rs300 each as was another kid selling brownies from stall to stall.
Under the supervision of another mother, Samra, Fatima and Soofia were also selling bracelets and bangles along with resin art items at the ‘Aesthetic Creatures’ stall, where they were also offering lessons in making bead jewellery.
At ‘Eshaal’s Craft’, little Eshaal Daniyal was selling decorated birdhouses and pots to hang on tree branches along with her mother. At ‘Laugh Lines’, you could buy tote bags, pouches and notebooks with creative covers from Shafia Noor and her mother.
At the ‘Guppa Dhamaka’ stall, which, as the name suggested, was selling golgappay and paani puri, Ayesha Awais had both her mother and father by her side. They made a neat little team with the daughter pulling in customers from all over and the mother preparing the plates while the father took care of accounts.
Of course, many children were at their stations and doing good business themselves like Syed Ali Aun. who was selling coaster sets and crochet items, including pretty purses made by his grandmother, at the ‘Mr Auntastic’ stall.
Two brothers, Almir and Ajmer Khan, were selling plants in tiny pots at the stall, which didn’t seem to have a name.
At ‘Chroma Citrus’, brothers Ayan Ahmed Wajid and Ali Ahmed Wajid with older friend Anaya Ghaznavi were selling strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, mango and peach lemonade for Rs400 a glass. And they had competition: donning a crisp white chef’s hat with a lime-coloured dress, Sania Binte Waqar was also selling lemonade but at Rs150 a glass.
Another little girl, Zara Waqas, also wearing yellow looked like a sunflower in her yellow shirt and matching flower-shaped glasses, which many offered to buy from her only to be sternly informed that they were not for sale, which wasn’t helping her business very much.
On the other hand, there was smart young Maryam Hasan at the ‘Bliss Bracelets’ stall, who arrived two hours before the market opened to put on some bracelets herself and carefully arrange her table with bracelets of different costs grouped according to their categories and prices.
Thus there was her ‘Elegant Collection’, ‘Fancy Collection’ and ‘Funky Collection’ of Rs200 each, her ‘Friendship Collection’ of Rs360 to 400 a pair and her ‘Solids Collection’ of Rs180 each all labelled and placed separately. She also offered to customise bracelets along with having packets of beads and strings also for those who would like to make their own bracelets, along with different metal charms, for Rs20 each, to attach to a bracelet if you wanted.
Very professional at such a young age, she also quickly sealed the purchases in small plastic pouches for her customers with each carrying a ‘Thank you for purchasing’ line printed on a pink card with her business QR code and other contact information also added.
At a stall named ‘Let’s Play’, you could play many little games such as ‘Throw the Ball’, ‘Lucky Pencil’ and ‘Electric Loop’ for Rs150 each and win prizes.
A mother minding the stall sheepishly announced that the kids running that stall had run off somewhere. Later, one of them, Syed Mustafa, came back to ease her burden.
At another game stall, brother and sister, Moazzam Ali and Sumaiya Sahar you could play ‘Pin the Tail’ on a donkey, while wearing a blindfold, of course.
You could also check your aiming skills by aiming darts at balloons tied to a board at another stall.
At the ‘Play and Treat’ stall, Zayd A. Wahidi and Mohammad Huzaifa had plenty more games to offer.
At a funny stall set up by a tissue paper company, there was a bathroom hygiene classroom with water closets, wash basins and big-size germs dancing about. It was turning out to be quite a popular place among the visitors. It was also probably the only bathroom around with flushing competition and photo shoots with germs.
Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2025
