Kite sales, hit hard by terror attacks, transporters strike and falling business, is expected to pick up in the last two days of Makar Sankranti, today and tomorrow.
Kite sales, hit hard by terror attacks, transporters strike and falling business, is expected to pick up in the last two days of Makar Sankranti, today and tomorrow.
According to some kite sellers, this year business is not as brisk as it was last year with some of them attributing this downfall mainly to market sentiments, terror strikes, exams and transporters strike.
"The market sentiments are low and because of which customers are not buying in large numbers as they used to earlier," said S M Khan of Indian Fighter Kites.
Also, the global financial crisis has changed the mindset of customers. People are willing to spend only on essential commodities and so keeping this scenario in mind not many new designs were introduced this year, he said. Many of those who had set up a stall prior to the festival thought they would do good business if they start displaying kites early.
"Its been nine days now and we have not generated good business as parents are not coming to buy kites because their children are busy preparing for exams. We had set up the stall mainly to lure customers but things are not working as we expected. Till now we have sold only 10,000 kites of the 25,000 purchased this year," said Vishal Parekh, a kite seller at Kandivali.
This year, kite sellers at Bendi Bazar have introduced a new set of kites with terror related messages, pictures of celebrities, cricketers and politicians printed on them. The S S Bareilly Kite Centre has messages like 'Stop Terrorism' and 'Aantank Murdabad' displayed on their kites while the Indian Fighter Kites has its unique 'Ekta Kites' with pictures of different places of worship on it.
