Thiruvananthapuram: Tarot card readers, artists, musicians, hawkers, face painters, makeshift tents, long-haired men and tattooed girls.
At the open courtyard of the Technopark Club on Monday evening, it almost felt like a gypsy gathering in a no-smoking zone.
But the merry spirit normally associated with gypsy life was absent.
There was excitement but also nervousness, like on the faces of participants about to deliver a performance.
It could also have been because dark clouds were hovering above them.
Still, this restraint felt slightly inappropriate for a flea market, which in European countries is a sort of impromptu market that sprouts in the most unlikely places - in parking lots, railway stations, boulevards, stadiums or street corners – and where the most exotic of things, goods as well as talent, are sold or bartered.
A typical flea market is byword for chaos.
Here it looked organised. Most of the vendors were new to the idea of a flea market. Not surprising as this was only the second flea market organised in the capital city.
But they also seemed to have tasted the flea market's promise. There were 49 vendors at the flea market.
Many of them are at the Technopark Club grounds because the first one held at Golf Club in Kowdiar last May had overwhelmed them. “Last time too there was rain but there was a large crowd,” said Mia Renny, an architect who has put on show her illustrations and light-hearted cartoons.
Another young architect, Sreejith Surendran, who makes pigmented resin pendants, too has returned after the huge response he got at the first flea market.
The flea market has been organised by 'Olam', an event management group based in Thiruvananthapuram. The world 'olam' roughly means to create a major buzz.
The Olam team has conceived the flea market the traditional European way, as a space where creativity meets market, but they are also attempting to stir up a local version of the concept.
“We are witnessing a creative churn in the capital city. It was only recently that 100 installations using pongala bricks were erected in the city in honour of Laurie Baker,” said Tony Cyriac, one of the founders of Olam.
“We felt that the time was ripe to introduce a concept like flea market in the capital,” he said.
Their intention, therefore, is to give creative entrepreneurs who sell exclusively through the online route a platform to expand their customer base.
Renny and Sreejith, for instance, sell their wares through Instagram. Archa Vincent takes only online orders for her cakes and cookies sold under the brand 'Sprinkles of Joy'.
Raj buys handloom products from Balaramapuram weavers and sell them online. “We hope to increase our reach through this flea market,” Raj said.
It looked as if a nasty wind that ripped through the stalls and sudden downpour that drenched their wares might spoil the fun.
But as the rain abated, the music began, shouts and squeals exploded from scattered points, and the yuppie Technopark crowd started flowing in. The gypsy spirit gradually descended.
