The run-up to Onam is traditionally marked by a lot of cheer in the renowned Chala flower market. Baskets and baskets of colourful flowers from places such as Thovala and Hosur are set out to entice buyers looking for just the right combination of flowers to catapult their ‘pookkalams’ into winners.
This time though, the flower shops are not bustling, the natural calamity in the State not sparing the roaring business in flowers during Onam.
There are no crowds of schoolgoers or college students haggling over the flowers for the Athapookkalam competitions before the Onam holidays, no back and forth over what flowers to choose or how much to buy. Schools have abruptly closed for the Onam holidays, incessant rain having disrupted classes for days together in many districts. So, the much-awaited competitions are out.
The flooding in large parts of the State has also left the people in no mood to celebrate. The State government has cancelled the Onam celebrations and diverted the funds for distress relief. So have government employees, residents’ associations, corporates, banks, and private firms.
All this has left the flower merchants counting their losses. Says an employee of a wholesale and retail shop in the Chala market, “Business has come to a standstill. After the government cancelled the celebrations, we too stopped orders for flowers. Only what comes in for the usual wedding and pujas is arriving these days.”
Kannan, a shop owner, says the losses run into lakhs. “Orders had already been placed, but were cancelled at the last minute. So we had to bear the losses.”
Onam business is what they look forward to in a year to make a tidy profit, he says. “We have off-season business too. What we make helps tide over that period. This year, it has been pretty grim.”
Flood relief
Despite the losses, they have not lagged behind in collecting materials for flood relief, says Kannan. “Mats and bedsheets have been collected by a few friends and associates.”
Sukumaran Nair, vice-president of the Trivandrum Flowerists’ Association, says there may be a rare client, but business is not even one-tenth of what it usually is during Onam. “We have some stock, for it is difficult to turn away people. But none of it is moving, and they just wilt by the second day. There are no students or teachers coming by. We have pinned our hopes on Uthradom day, but it may just be in vain, for the flood situation is very bad.”
Shops in other parts of the city may fare better than those in Chala for they may get small clients who want to put Pookkalams on a small scale, says Sukumaran Nair. “Some of our business is moving elsewhere. It is not easy to buy flowers in Chala owing to parking woes and bumper-to-bumper traffic.”
