Sarojini Nagar, the worst hit by Saturday's terror attacks, was the Indian capital's first middle class shopping center that evolved from a mainly vegetable market to a bargain hub for the young looking for trendy clothes.

It was nestled in a neatly laid out residential area of the same name where simple mainly two-room houses built in the 1950s were allotted by the central government to its employees.

Several similar government "colonies" - Netaji Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Kidwai Nagar, Lakshmi Bai Nagar and Chanakyapuri - ringed Sarojini Nagar, making in the heart of a large peaceful enclave.

For decades, Sarojini Nagar market - the shops clustered in four L-shaped blocks with two parallel straight rows either side - was primarily an outlet for cheap vegetables, where government servants and their families bargained hard over the prices of vegetables and fruits.

With their static incomes, bargaining was a must. And vegetable sellers, who occupied an entire bustling line on one side, were more than ready for the game. Of course the shops sold a wide variety of other goods too, and bargaining and bargains were the other name for Sarojini Nagar.

There was the Band Box, the Paul Studio, the Sardar Dairy, the Sindhi Boot House... Each of them was a landmark, each owned by hard-working men and women, many of who had made it from the newly created Pakistan in 1947 virtually as paupers.

Utensils, woolens, footwear, textiles, furniture, watches, cutlery, curios, electrical gadgets and of course groceries could all be bought here.

People came to get themselves photographed or have their clothes dry-cleaned. And have their photographs framed. The other attractions were vendors selling mouth-watering 'tikkis' and 'chat papri'.

In the 1960s and 1970s, when Delhi was still innocent, the market was the hangout for younger members of families who lived in and around Sarojini Nagar and where a cup of steaming tea laced with ginger could be had for 10 paise.

Then the times changed - and almost suddenly. It was in the late 1970s when East European diplomats began to frequent the market looking for vegetables. Many East European tourists who also came spilled over from the nearby Yashwant Place shopping complex.

Sarojini Nagar shopkeepers accepted the challenge. In no time, many learnt to speak enough Russian and Czech to do business - before the East Europeans eventually moved away to Karol Bagh and Ajmal Khan Road in central Delhi.

But the 'foreign' invasion brought with it the need for trendy clothes, the clothes the young in Delhi began to wear - first hesitatingly and then with an eagerness that pushed up the profit graph.

In Sarojini Nagar, you could find it all: faded jeans, skirts, slacks, tops, colourful T-shirts, wrap-arounds, shawls, shorts, Bermudas, scarves. Sneakers and leather jackets also flooded in, many apparently 'export rejects'.

For young men and women, Sarojini Nagar suddenly became a haven where one got hold of the latest styles in fashion even on shoestring budgets.

As the Sarojini Nagar market ballooned, space became highly sought after. So shopkeepers occupied every inch, in the narrow lanes, on the edges, calling out to people - and never failing to attract customers.

Slowly up-market outlets also came up.

By the 1990s, Sarojini Nagar market was the 'in place' to hang out on weekends. Vegetables had taken a backseat.

Politically too, the area had swung from one considered a Hindu rightwing bastion to one which occasionally voted for the Congress.

Sarojini Nagar was wallowing in the middle class economic boom when terrorists struck Saturday evening killing two thirds of the 61 people who died in the city - and casting a shadow on Diwali shopping.

But being what it is, Sarojini Nagar was back to life - almost - less than 24 hours later, with its usual bargains and bargaining.