Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Are you shopping?

It's Aashadam time. Are you ready to make that dent in your wallet? RENUKA VIJAY KUMAR reports

It's officially SALE time— that time of the year when shops eagerly throw open their doors and equally enthusiastic shoppers make a beeline for their favourite stores.

A time that was once considered sluggish in terms of sales, is now the busiest time of the year for businessmen in the city. Most of the sales in the city at this time coincide with the Aashadam period. Shopkeepers also considered the `dark' or `do nothing auspicious' period of the year, as the least profitable month.

However, they have turned the situation in their favour by having sales at this time and marking heavy discounts on clothes, jewellery and even household ware.

In Hyderabad, stores owned by Telugu families label the discounts as `Aashadam specials' while malls and multinational chains use the word that entices everyone - sales!

Sitaram Kumar, manager of Kalaniketan says the Aashadam sales are held every year during the period of ashadam.

"The discounts start at 15 per cent and go up to 50 per cent. Other offers include one plus one." He goes on to add that the sales invariably go on for the entire duration of Aashad.

In south India, ashadam is considered an inauspicious time for many reasons. Gyanalakshmi, a teacher who is well acquainted with regional customs explains one of them. "Some believe that it coincides with the monsoons and therefore new things like clothes or household are not bought since they get spoilt in the rain. Marriages and other auspicious ceremonies are also never held in this month." Modernists have linked this to the monsoons as well, and believe that all activities were avoided since the rains hampered everything and the general prevalent mood was dull and gloomy.

Radhika Reddy, a housewife is making the most of these sales to put together a trousseau for her daughter. Radhika explains, "As long as we make the first purchase or even a token purchase before Aashadam starts, we can do the rest of the shopping during this period. The clothes and jewellery available during this period is not out-dated and neither I have seen any defective pieces. But since prices are so low, we can buy more than what we plan to." A sentiment that will perhaps make many a shop owner happy.

This year, the period began on June 24 and will end on July 23. So if you want to buy that heavy Kanchiveeram sari that will normally leave you penniless, then this is the time to go ahead and buy it without any such worries.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail