Coimbatore :
With Pongal, the harvest festival just two days away, the commercial parts of the city are crowded with last minute shoppers, even though the prices of essentials including sugarcane, turmeric and rice continue to increase rapidly. It is not uncommon for people from neighbouring towns and villages to travel to Coimbatore to buy new clothes and accessories. Pongal bazaars are very active, especially in the vicinity of the Flower Market and Town Hall. Fresh loads of sugarcane and turmeric arrive periodically, to cater to the rising demand, ahead of Pongal.
Prices are skyrocketing this season but we have to celebrate the festival the traditional way with grandeur. The power cuts have eased a bit and we hope this will continue till the end of the festival,” said P R Pramod, a businessman from Peelamedu, who was doing his Pongal shopping near the Flower Market.
Marketing manager of a leading textile firm in Oppanakara Street said that people were coming in large numbers to do their Pongal shopping. “Business is better when compared to Diwali and Christmas last year,” he said. The textile shops have introduced new varieties and designs. “Many people from villages come to the city to buy modern clothes. This has in no way impacted the demand for traditional saris,” he added. Grocery stores have also been witnessing a sudden rush of festival revelers. People are mainly looking to buy sweets, said a shop owner.
M Jayanthi, a housewife residing at Kuniamuthur says that everyone at home wears new clothes for Pongal. Sunitha Shree R, part of the faculty at a city college said that her family celebrate’s by cooking special dishes and holding prayers. “We generally buy rice, make special sweets and visit the temple,” she says.
The Coimbatore railway station saw crowds of people waiting to buy tickets. N Ramu and Asha Jyothi, second year M Pham students at Sri Ramakrishna College of Medicine said they were eager to go home to celebrate Pongal with their families in Vijayawada. TNSTC has started operating 400 additional buses to manage the rush mainly in the Chennai and Madurai routes. There is a huge demand for tickets to Trichy, Madurai, Thanjavur, Thirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Theni, Pudukottai and Karaikudi.
M Sekar, treasurer of Erode Kani Market Textile Traders Association said, “Sales of wholesale clothes has picked up only in the last week. People from Madurai, Nagercoil, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin buy whole sale from here. Over the last one week, we have sold handloom textile and readymade clothes worth Rs 15 crore”.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Arun P. Mathew, TNN / January 12th, 2013