Delhi man’s ₹500 flea market purchase worth ₹50 lakh – Changing his life

A Lazy Sunday. A Flea Market. And a Forgotten Frame.

For Amit Sharma, a 33-year-old freelance graphic designer in Delhi, browsing local markets was just a weekend ritual. “I like collecting quirky things—old cameras, posters, typewriters,” he says. “I never thought I’d find anything valuable.”

But one morning at the Sundar Nagar flea market, something caught his eye: a dusty, slightly torn canvas propped up behind a pile of brass figurines. It was an abstract painting—bold, textured, and unsigned. The seller asked ₹700. Amit bargained it down to ₹500.

“I just liked the colors. I thought it would look cool in my living room,” he laughs.


A Curious Friend, a Lucky Break

Two weeks later, a friend visiting Amit’s apartment paused at the painting. She was an intern at an art gallery and recognized the style immediately.

“This looks like it could be early work by Syed Haider Raza,” she said, referring to one of India’s most celebrated modern artists.

Skeptical but intrigued, Amit emailed photos of the painting to a few art appraisers. One of them responded within a day: “Please bring this in. We believe it may be authentic.”


Verified—and Valued at ₹50 Lakh

After weeks of verification, provenance checks, and pigment analysis, the verdict was in: the painting was indeed an early work by Raza, likely from the late 1950s.

Art specialists at a major Delhi auction house valued it at ₹45–₹50 lakh.

“I was in shock,” Amit says. “I paid ₹500 for this. It was sitting behind my couch, next to a broken guitar.”

He’s now working with a curator to list it in an upcoming international auction—and says part of the money will go toward supporting independent artists in Delhi.


💬 “I was just looking for something cool for my wall. I never imagined it would change my life.”

This stroke of luck has turned Amit’s side hobby into a passion for art discovery. He’s now learning about Indian modern art and plans to visit more vintage markets—not to strike it rich again, but because he’s fallen in love with the stories hidden in forgotten frames.