Black saris, sesame line shelves ahead of Makar Sankranti
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Mumbai
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Shopping has begun in right
earnest this weekend ahead of Makar Sankranti on Thursday . This
is the first Hindu festival of the new year. Housewives in Lalbaug
are flocking to buy black sesame seeds to prepare til laddoos. Sanket
Khamkar of the neighbourhood Khamkar Store points out that families
maintain the tradition of making the sweet at home.“Do remember that a
lot of weddings take place during December-January .New brides
are eager to celebrate Makar Sankranti since it is their first festival
after marriage,“ he says.
Small packets of polished til, chikki gur, cardamom and crushed groundnuts line the shelves. Each is heated and added to the mixture used for rolling laddoos. Packs of sugar phutane are distributed as prasad.
“Earlier, nearly every Lalbaug household would prepare til laddoos. Now half of them do so while the rest buy from sweetmeat shops or from housewives who are entrepreneurs. Costs have risen, it is true, so people may buy smaller quantities but they do not forgo the celebration,“ Khamkar says.
Meanwhile, kite manufacturers in Dongri and Kurla are doing brisk sales of “durable kites“ that now use polyester printing technology . It is workshops in Gujarat that dictate design tr ends. Not surprisingly , the most expensive item this year at Rs 12-15 apiece is one with images of Narendra Modi and Barack Obama against Parliament House and the White House. In the foreground is Obama's famous greeting “Kem chho Mr Prime Minister?“ Traditional black outfits remain a favourite during Makar Sankranti. Sari shops particularly in Maharashtrian dominated localities like Dadar, Prabhadevi and Vile Parle have lined up new stock. “We sell around 300 black saris in the month leading up to Sankranti. Women like a variety of plain, printed and handloom fabrics so the largest manufacturers in India make sure to despatch black saris in December-January ,“ said Devjibhai Patel, who is part-owner of Lazaree, Dadar.
Nearby Dharmachakra sari shop has laid out an array of embroidered blacks, chiffons and handloom designs. Owner R R Jadeja says they cost upwards of Rs 750. In Kalbadevi, the 106-year-old store Khatri Jamnadas sources black bandhni saris from Gujarat which cost Rs 3,500 on average, says owner Maunil Katbamna.
Small packets of polished til, chikki gur, cardamom and crushed groundnuts line the shelves. Each is heated and added to the mixture used for rolling laddoos. Packs of sugar phutane are distributed as prasad.
“Earlier, nearly every Lalbaug household would prepare til laddoos. Now half of them do so while the rest buy from sweetmeat shops or from housewives who are entrepreneurs. Costs have risen, it is true, so people may buy smaller quantities but they do not forgo the celebration,“ Khamkar says.
Meanwhile, kite manufacturers in Dongri and Kurla are doing brisk sales of “durable kites“ that now use polyester printing technology . It is workshops in Gujarat that dictate design tr ends. Not surprisingly , the most expensive item this year at Rs 12-15 apiece is one with images of Narendra Modi and Barack Obama against Parliament House and the White House. In the foreground is Obama's famous greeting “Kem chho Mr Prime Minister?“ Traditional black outfits remain a favourite during Makar Sankranti. Sari shops particularly in Maharashtrian dominated localities like Dadar, Prabhadevi and Vile Parle have lined up new stock. “We sell around 300 black saris in the month leading up to Sankranti. Women like a variety of plain, printed and handloom fabrics so the largest manufacturers in India make sure to despatch black saris in December-January ,“ said Devjibhai Patel, who is part-owner of Lazaree, Dadar.
Nearby Dharmachakra sari shop has laid out an array of embroidered blacks, chiffons and handloom designs. Owner R R Jadeja says they cost upwards of Rs 750. In Kalbadevi, the 106-year-old store Khatri Jamnadas sources black bandhni saris from Gujarat which cost Rs 3,500 on average, says owner Maunil Katbamna.
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