Grim scenes at kite shops ahead of festival

Unseasonal rain and the rapid spread of Omicron variant have left kite sellers in the city twiddling their thumbs. Outside the wholesale shops near Kali Kaman, Koka ki Tatti, Dhoolpet and Begum Bazaar

Unseasonal rain and the rapid spread of Omicron variant have left kite sellers in the city twiddling their thumbs. Outside the wholesale shops near Kali Kaman, Koka ki Tatti, Dhoolpet and Begum Bazaar the colourful wares are piled high inside the shops and spill onto the streets. “There is no sale as buyers from districts are not coming due to Omicron fear. We bought the goods expecting better business than last year. Our hopes have been dashed,” says Surinder Singh of Old Motilal Patang Ghar near Begum Bazar Chatri. Mr. Singh is the fourth generation owner of the 80-year-old shop and says business has never been this grim. “The prices of all the items have gone up due to hike in fuel prices. Most of the kites and manja come from Kanpur, Gujarat and Kolkatta. Because of the distance prices have gone up,” he says. Buyers from places like Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mancherial, Rajahmundry and Vijayawada throng the shops in the area between November 15 and January 5, but are missing this year.

Across the Musi river, children stop, haggle, and buy kites at the shops in the Hussaini Alam area. Some kites are in the air but they are few and far between. The kite festival begins in real earnest on January 1 and reaches a crescendo during the festival of Sankranti.

“Whenever there are clouds, I get worried. This year, out of 180 days it has rained on 100 days and my business has gone for a toss,” says Bhagwandas Bajaj sitting inside his 40-year-old shop near Kali Kaman. Traders from Nellore, Tirupati, Kadapa and other districts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu pick up stock from Bajaj Patang Mahal. “All the items that you see are bought with an anticipation that we will do good business but in the last 15 days we didn’t do very well. If business picks up now it will be good,” says Mr. Bajaj whose grandfather started a kite shop in Yakutpura area about 80 years ago.