Mangalore, December 21: A walk through the Market road in Mangalore gives you a feel of the Christmas season. Several shops with Christmas decorations attract onlookers by their colourful appearance and shinny appeal. Almost every shop in that stretch of the road sells Christmas decorations or appears ready for Christmas with its decor.
Even if the street appears all set for the Christmas season, there is not much of a Christmas shopping happening there in terms of decorations compared to previous year. Most of them appear to be occupied with their every day shopping while shopkeepers try to clear the dust covering the display of Christmas trees and decorations.
The recent fad of Christmas Caps has driven huge production, making them available on the streets. Women and young children are found knocking at car windows, trying to convince people in buying them. In front of Ideal's Ice Cream parlour and Laxmi Cloth Stores at Hampankkatta, a small table is placed with a big bunch of Santa caps being sold. Another man sits a little ahead at the point of crossing, with Santa Caps and Masks.
Several shops at City Centre and Bharath Mall are decorated for Christmas. They look hopeful and ready for increased sales through discounts and offers. Even though people happen to be shopping for the season, there appears to be no additional shoppers than usual.
This scenario makes you wonder where the thrill and excitement about Christmas disappeared.
Ria Albuquerque, a resident of Pandeshwar says that the spirit of Christmas is slowly fading. “Earlier, people used to be excited about the whole season. Now they are just worried of what they are going to wear for Christmas and the numerous weddings that happen during the week”, she says.
Speaking about lesser enthusiasm among the people in sending Christmas cards these days, she adds “When we were kids, we used buy stacks of Christmas cards to send it to our relatives and friends. This happens to be missing over the years. There is hardly anyone who still wishes people by send cards”.
There is however a tremendous increase in one part of Christmas shopping amongst the people; shopping of “Kuswar” or Christmas Sweets. The preparation of Christmas sweets used to be one of the main attractions of the season. Not only the women at home, but men and children used to join in the preparation. Due to most people's hectic schedule and tiring days, there are very few who still continue preparing sweets at home and most of them prefer to buy them from bakeries and stores.
Owner of a famous local bakery informs that there has been growing demand for Christmas sweets every year and has heightened this year. “It is highly difficult to meet the demands”, he says. “Before, we had to work overtime as we did not know how to go about it. We are now better prepared to handle the situation”, he adds.
Christmas season was an eagerly awaited time of the year. Be it the young or the old, it was a celebrity of various kinds for all. This appears to be changing over the years and surprisingly four days ahead of Christmas, only Market road seems to be lit up!
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