KOLKATA: Five days ahead of Bengali New Year, markets in the city are bustling with crowds looking for shops offering the latest fashion at reasonable prices and eateries offering a variety of Bengali dishes.
According to a shopper at Hatibagan, people buy new clothes ahead of the Poila Baisakh and buying gold jewellery is also a practice amongst people. Business owners buy new ledgers to open on the day of the Bengali New Year.
Every year, except for the two years of the pandemic 2020-22, markets are usually crowded at this time of the year. This year the hawkers are hopeful of doing brisk business.
However, for many shopkeepers, the competition with online shopping has affected their sales.
“The sales this year have dropped by 40 per cent,” a shopkeeper at Gariahat said.
A 40-year-old shopper who had come to Hatibagan with his wife said that they prefer to come to the market and buy the product but their children who are currently studying prefer to buy “stylish” clothes at better prices online. Apart from online shopping, heat has also factored the number of people visiting markets.
The city on Monday recorded a maximum temperature of 37 degree Celsius and a minimum of 27 degree Celsius.