Flowers are an integral part of Onam celebrations. However, this time around, flower sellers at the Pookada Junction in Thiruvananthapuram say that they are witnessing poor sales.
“In all fields, these celebrations are less. Normally, atham (pookkalam) is celebrated in offices, schools, colleges, Technopark and so on which has reduced. Even in our houses, we used to put pookkalam for ten days from atham, which no one takes interest in anymore, says Sreekumar, a vendor. Radhakrishnan, another vendor, says that sales have been slow this year even though prices have fallen. He adds that flowers are being wasted and they are forced to throw them out.
Sukumaran, another vendor told The Hindu that sales are poor because the State government has said no to celebrations this year due to the landslide in Wayanad. “Normally, people pool in money and put pookalams and all. This year they hesitated. That’s why,” he says.
All our hopes are on Uthradam. That’s all
Published - September 18, 2024 11:13 pm IST
