With Christmas just around the corner, the city has brightened up with marketplaces and homes decked up with colourful stars, ornaments and other decorations.
“It's all about the lights this year,” says a salesperson of Gift Shoppe at the Palayam Market.
LED stars that light up in different colours remain popular, with their display in full glory during daylight as well. LED lights, called ‘Rocket lights’ due to their pointed shape, are also in demand. Although the market has changed over the years to suit new tastes and technologies, the traditional white star still remains a favourite, according to shopkeepers.
A Chinese Christmas
Whether it is stars, lights or ornaments, plastic items imported from China make up most of them, with locally sourced paper-made decorations on the wane. Although these plastic items may seem like they would last for a while, they are effectively use-and-throw products, says a salesperson.
While the stars, which cost between Rs.175 and Rs.600, can be repaired and used again, the cost of repair might actually exceed the purchase price. A Christmas fair set up by the Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM) on the premises of the St. Joseph’s Metropolitan Cathedral at Palayam catches the attention of passers-by, with a variety of cribs on display, along with stars.
The stall was set up in order to raise funds for the renovation of the St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church at Pattoor. Cribs made of cane, plywood and wood are up for sale, costing between Rs. 275 and Rs. 1300. Figurines made of Plaster of Paris are also available. The cribs include hand-made ones, made by the members of KCYM, all residents of nearby localities.
This time around, the Christmas cheer has been dimmed a little thanks to the demonetisation drive. Varghese, who sells cribs sourced from Kollam by a roadside stall at Palayam, says that customers have been scarce this year. At Garden City, inside the Narmada Complex near Kowdiar, not much new stock was purchased in anticipation of lower demand.
Sheeba John of the LMS Bible and Book Depot says that sales have gone down this year by around 40 per cent.
