From fancy lights, lampshades, Ganesha and laxmi idols to crackers and other such sundry items, there is a super-abundance of Chinese products in the markets. Things are such as the consumers have no option but to go for these attractive and relatively cheap items.
With the huge availability and the growing demand for the festive items ‘made in China’, the local artisans are facing stiff competition to sell their products during this Diwali season.
A shopkeeper at Karanpur said, “People are crazy about the Chinese lights. There are reasons too. They are cheap and so even the poor can afford to buy them. Besides, these Chinese lights consume little electricity. We are losing ground to the Chinese in the realm of crackers too. They are more colourful, produce more sound and have a lot of variety in them aside from being alluringly cheap.”
He further said that China- made light-weight idols of Hindu gods and goddesses are swarming into shops and markets. The people are seen taking interest in purchasing such idols of the Hindu pantheons like laxmi and Ganesh.
These are gaudy too as they are fitted with decorative items and fancy lights.
According to him, India- made traditional items seem to have vanished from the markets with those from the land of the Dragons flooding them, as if, in a deluge. There is hardly any buyer for the Indian-made ‘jhallars’ that evoke the old world charm.
This Diwali, the citizens are scrambling for the Chinese lights which are available in myriad shapes like those of flowers and fruits in the markets. These colourful and cheap items are luring them into decorating their houses with. We are losing out pitiably as our items look lack-lustre behind the lustrous Chinese ones.
Gaurav, another shopkeeper doing trade at Paltan Bazaar, admitted his shop has only the China-made decoration items. “These range from lights to showpieces and flowers. The buyers are frantically jostling for them. We are having brisk Diwali trade too, thanks to the collective craze for the Chinese items.”
Shopkeepers across the city seem to have no qualms over selling the Chinese items which are shunting out the traditional Indian items.
“We are traders, not custodians of Swadeshi. We are happy earning quick bucks out of them,” said one trader curtly when asked why they are not the least concerned about the artisans who take pains throughout the year to churn out the traditional items for the festival of light. The lED bulbs are available at Rs50 per piece while the price for a set of four crystal balls is Rs150. Ganesh showpiece with lED lights range from Rs150 to Rs300. The Chinese lamps are sold for price ranging from Rs50 to Rs100.
“Illuminating the house with decorative lights and lamps is what epitomises the Diwali. This adds to the delight of Diwali. We cannot imagine celebrating Diwali without going for such illumination,” said a customer, Sohan Bisht who was found engaged in doing the best deal involving the Chinese decorative items at Paltan Bazaar.
“The Indian lights stand no comparison. They are ordinary and lack innovative variety. By contrast, the Chinese items are everything we hanker after during this time of festivity,” he added.
“When it comes to decorative lights people invariably prefer the Chinese to the Indian. This is the overwhelming trend this time. Cheap prices and variety is what can account for the craze for the Chinese,” said another shopkeeper at Paltan Bazaar.
“I have sold hundreds of such lED pieces till now. The volume of sale would definitely go further up, given the trend,” the beaming trader added.