From soy wax candles and decorations made of coir, driftwood and cardboard to little packets of hay for a quick Christmas crib, Kochiites are having a whale of a time, riding the season of hope despite the overwhelming atmosphere of lingering economic despair.
The themes range from environmental to cinematic when it comes to decorations, and shoppers at the overcrowded Broadway do not complain about dilapidated roads while shop owners overlook three rows of two-wheeler parking.
This Christmas is leaning to the greener side. There is great demand for chemical-free paints and decorations, says Rhea Ivan, who met with great success with online sale of soy wax tablets as well as organic decorative items. Maria Joseph says ecofriendly materials such as coir make products affordable and much in demand.
There is some buoyancy in the market despite the complaints, says a shopper from Vazhakkala, looking for Christmas tree, hangings and Santa Claus masks at Broadway. The shopper’s enthusiasm is absent in the account by shop owners, who claim that business is down by about 60% this season compared with last year. A veteran of Broadway, M.A. Sageer says that while established shop owners are struggling, wayside vendors have taken over all the footpaths in the city and are doing brisk business.
Another shop owner Jose says that textile business is substantially down this year though there has been heavy footfall at the business hub in the city since Monday. The economic downturn is reflected in the sales, he adds.
But, K.J. Xavier, a shopper, says he is surprised by the way prices have gone up between Monday and Thursday for Christmas items.
While a little packet of hay is selling at ₹30, the price of paper wall hangings has gone up from ₹40 to ₹70 per set between Monday and Thursday. Similarly, he says, the price of a set of 10 Christmas caps has gone up from ₹120 to ₹170.
Home-made cakes
But what steals the show in the run-up to this Christmas is the cake trend, with Kochiites’ preferring home-made cakes to plum cakes from bakeries. Hence, one can hardly set foot in a shop selling cake accessories ranging from icing and cocoa powder to cake stands, says Femi Jose, a homemaker.
“Hundreds of homemakers in Kochi are making cakes at home for the market,” says veteran baker and leader of All India Federation of Bakers P.M. Shankaran. He says it is a continuation of the Kerala trend among bakeries. It is estimated that about 90% of the 7,000 to 10,000 bakeries in Ernakulam district are one-woman or one-man shows, churning out the State’s favourite confectioneries.
