Yes, you may label us crazy! But we were hell bent upon experiencing the crowd this festive season. And this is not just about any crowd. But the unbelievably huge Diwali crowd that pours into small town Madurai during this time of every year for purchases and entertainment, fun and food, outing and bonding, movies and malls and reasons unlimited.
The South Masi Street and the arterial roads were chock-a-bloc with as many ordinary people as bags clutching shoppers and young girls and boys just out to have fun. There was no gender bias on the streets. Only the rush was unfathomable and perhaps easily beats some of the busiest streets in the world during these nights preceding the festival of lights. And believe you us, there is a delight in walking with no specific agenda, no checklist. We only walked to get the real feel of the Diwali fever in Madurai. And that is when we actually found more.
The mini-to-major shopping attractions are spread out over miles on the pavements, inside shops and eateries. It’s not just clothes but even gaudy slippers, cheap toys, flowery bedsheets and pillows, colourful mats, bright festoons and loud flashy accessories that lay bait to whimsical shoppers. The only option you have is to explore on foot and keep moving ahead, or else allow yourself to be pushed, jostled and trampled by whole lot of others. There is absolutely no other choice than to walk heel-to-toe with total strangers.
It is only a sea of humanity we witness during this time of the year, says Dikshit Chopra, who runs a Sari shop at Vilakkuthoon. “Two days before Diwali, the crowd swells and the shops remain open till dawn. In the run up to the festival, our wholesale business alone shoots up to nearly Rs.3,00,000 a day. It’s the best time to keep your cash counter ringing.”
It is indeed a wonder how people purchase things in this kind of a rush. It actually takes time to orient yourself and step in with the milieu. It is not as easy as it appears as we discovered how different the world can be out there on a mainstream street after 10p.m. It is like the day has just begun. Amidst all the chaos, we noticed a bearded old man with exhausted eyes standing in the middle of the road with hordes of clothes hung all over his body. He carries the hangers on his shoulders acting much like a mobile shop himself. Introducing himself as Mohammed Ahmed from Allahabad, he says, “I have been coming to Madurai for the past 10 years. I stay here for over 25 days during the festival season and make good business.” He manages to earn anywhere between Rs.1500 to Rs.2000 a day. And it’s not just him but nearly a 1000 more come from various part of North India who make Madurai their home for the brief Diwali season. “We source the clothes from Mumbai and sell them here.”
It was close to midnight and we found shoppers and sellers with spring in their feet, every shop big or small blinked with glittering lights packed that they were with people in frenzy to grab a last minute deal. Every inch of space on the roads was infused with hundreds of roadside vendors giving away things at a throwaway price. “With Diwali morning approaching, the hawkers give away things in auction. Groups of people surround every stall and quote prices. The highest bidder wins the item and the experience is like a lucky draw. This is where you strike golden deals. I bought clothes for my entire family in just Rs.200 and a silk dhoti for just under Rs.50,” narrates B. Karthik, who customarily visits the street on Diwali.
Even at 1 a.m., people lined the pavement sitting on plastic stools and savouring steaming hot idlis, dosais and biryani. People don’t mind sharing space with stray dogs and cattle roaming the streets and the sight of accumulating garbage. “Diwali stall-hopping in Madurai is something unique. There’s no pretence of class or show of wealth but only unexplained impulse and spontaneity that drives shoppers to the South Masi Street,” says M. Shenbaga. “There’s a community feeling about this entire affair, where people shop for not just themselves but the extended family of relatives and friends. Many people who come from villages and nearby towns reach the street by bus but while going back, they hire an auto rickshaw because of the bundles of goods they bought.”
What grounds you is the sea of humanity and the empathy people have for each other. Even amidst all the chaos, there’s a harmony one gets to experience on the streets. We did not take any short cuts as there was no scope. We walked the time and we walked even more and by the time we reached home after a chilled glass of the famous jigarthanda, our eyes and feet thanked us for the sheer experience of a charming melange of elements, from people and their moods, to goods and their quality, purchases hinged on bargains, food and clothes, sweets and crackers, that give Diwali a spin. Simply unmissable!
