On the eve of Makar Sankranti, each shop having colourful kites and manjhas are flooded with customers. Jaipur city markets like Haldiyon Ka Raasta, Chaura Rasta and Johari Bazaar was flooded with customers buying lots of kites and manjhas irrespective of soaring price.
From a six-year-old kid to his 70-year-old grandfather, everyone was busy selecting and purchasing the best kites on Monday. The shopkeepers said they will open their shops throughout the night till Tuesday morning and are expecting that business will gain momentum.
The kites from Bareilly, Farooqabad, Moradabad and Rampur were selling like hotcakes. Traders were a bit disappointed with the response so far as Qasim Ali, a retailer from Subash Chowk area, said, “There was a time in Jaipur when we used to have our shops flooded with customers from the first week of January. But increase in prices and other distractions like internet and cable television have spoiled the business. Likewise the awareness regarding the injuries of the birds has also put a dent on the business.”
Asked how to differentiate between a kite made in Jaipur and the one made in Uttar Pradesh, Suresh Saini, a kite seller at Chandpole Bazaar, said, “The finishing of the kites from Uttar Pradesh is much better than that of those made in Jaipur. Secondly the quality of paper of kite is better,” said Asif Khan, a kite lover at Johari Bazaar.
The varieties of kites including aadhi, manjola, dedh kanni were available in prices ranging from Rs 80 per 20 piece to Rs 120 per 20 pieces of kites.
A gigantic rush was witnessed in the Walled City where the traffic remained chaotic from 3-9 pm. Makar Sankranti is incomplete without daal ke pakode, til ke laddoo and feni so the sweet shops in Jaipur selling all these and others selling the raw materials for the dishes remained flooded with the customers.
src: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Kite-markets-abuzz-with-Sankranti-shoppers/articleshow/28761164.cms