Numaish — a convenient contraction of All India Industrial Exhibition, but encompassing a slice of the city’s culture and heritage spanning over eight decades. It is this cultural connect which makes Numaish a sort of an annual ritual for Hyderabadis and others who have made the city their home. For visitors to the exhibition, there are predominantly two reasons — the first is shopping, of course, and the other is plain amusement.
Take the case of Swathi K., a private employee and resident of Masab Tank, who says that her family has been regular patrons for the past 20 years. Shopping, she says, is what drives her to visit Numaish. “I am here because I like to wear clothes which are neither too gaudy or very expensive. The best thing is that the exhibition is set up just before summer. That way, it is easy for me to visit a lot of stalls which sell cotton wear,” she says, adding that Numaish is an inalienable part of the city’s culture.
For others, such as Farha Syed, a businesswoman, who describes herself as a hard bargainer, Numaish offers an opportunity to stock unstitched clothes and sell them at her store on another day. She has been visiting Numaish every year for the past 40 years. “If you know how to bargain, then the exhibition is a good place to buy your goods from and make a small profit,” she says, adding that she has not missed visiting the exhibition for at least 35 years. Interestingly, in the early ’80s, Ms Syed was a student of Sarojini Naidu Vanita Mahavidyalaya, which is administered by the All India Industrial Exhibition Society (AIIES).
For many others, Numaish is pure amusement. Frequent visitors and AIIES members point out that while serious shoppers arrive during the day, evenings are primarily for ‘fun’. “We see that proper shopping activity is during the day. A lot of people from Banjara Hills and other uptown areas coming in their vehicles are busy shopping. The evenings are more relaxed and families from across the city come here to have a good time,” says AIIES member Ashwin Margam.
This year, there are more number of Kashmiri stalls at the exhibition. Says Dilshad Ahmad Khan, who runs a dry fruit stall in his own name, “Given the circumstances, trade in Kashmir has become very slow. We have seen a larger number of Kashmiri stalls here because people are trying to grab every opportunity to mitigate losses. It is heartening to see that we are being supported by those who have been buying goods from us for the past many years.”
However, Sailaja Ramshaw, who works in the infotech sector, says that she has been visiting Numaish ever since she moved to the city in 1990. But this year, she is going to give it a miss. Explaining the reason, she says, “It has become too crowded. What’s more, I feel the quality of some goods has come down.”
