This story appears in the May 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine. A few years ago I was on an assignment in India. I had a day off, so I went to the Mullick Ghat flower market in Kolkata.

The stores in Hogg Market, Simpark Mall, Sriram Arcade, SSR Globe Mall and Treasure Island seemed to have moderate footfall when My Kolkata visited. Rajesh Kumar Tiwari, store manager of Milan store ...