Delhiites find everything at international trade fair amid smog season
With the cold getting sharper and growing pollution triggering constant throat infections, many Delhiites are treating the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2025 as a one-stop market for winter wear to homoeopathic medicines. Several visitors said they came only to roam or shop for warm clothes, but ended up buying herbal remedies after falling sick repeatedly.
“I mainly came to check out jackets because the cold is already hitting me,” Amar Singh, a resident of Vasant Vihar, who visited the fair with his family, said. “But all of us have had a sore throat for days, and I cannot keep taking allopathic medicine. When I saw the ayurvedic stalls here, I picked up their syrup,” he added.
Kunal Verma, a college student, said he walked in with relatives and had young children at home, so he was being cautious about falling ill.
“We only came to look around,” he said. “But my throat is bad, and I’m coughing all the time. The winter and the pollution are messing with my immunity, so I bought some drops. It’s easier when everything is in the same place, winter caps, masks and medicines.”
For Manjeet Singh, who came alone after work, the fair worked like a seasonal bazaar. “Pollution is making me fall sick again and again,” he said. “I visited the Ayurveda counter to buy soaps and lotions for my parents and decided to try some medicine here since it has fewer side effects. I also bought gloves, two problems solved in one visit.”
“At home, everyone prefers traditional remedies, so I picked up a few things along with a muffler,” he added.
The fourteen-day fair, inaugurated on November 14 at Bharat Mandapam, has brought together more than 3,500 participants under the theme ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’. The venue resembles a live map of India, filled with crafts, small industries, farm products, startups and state-specific stalls. The fair also hosted national award-winning businesswomen and artisan stalls as well. Among them was Padma Shri Shahnaz Husain’s herbal and ayurvedic beauty brand, whose stall saw a steady stream of shoppers.
“My mother never lets us buy any other kajal,” said Priya, browsing the counter, adding, “It’s that one brand my entire family is obsessed with.”
Husain had visited her brand’s stall on Sunday and got overwhelming attention throughout her walk, the brand said in a statement.
“For the Shahnaz Group, which has been attending the fair for the past three decades, the way forward is innovation that is driven by AI amalgamation with product formulation that can provide tailor-made solutions to numerous concerns and formulate products that match these concerns by eliminating the root cause of the issues,” they added.
National award-winning artisans showcased rare traditional art forms as well. One of them, Dalavai Shivamma, a Shilpa Guru and national awardee and master of the ancient Tolu Bommalata leather-puppet tradition from Dharmavaram, Andhra Pradesh, was seen sitting on the floor of her stall, painting a lamp post as visitors stopped to watch.
She said that her family has practised the shadow-theatre tradition for more than a thousand years, tracing its roots to nomadic groups that travelled across the country.
“Earlier, we would skin the goat ourselves, wash the leather in ponds, stretch it on a frame and let it dry before painting the scriptures on it,” she said.
“The process traditionally uses goat leather. Now, many artists use synthetic leather, but the craft must survive as it evolves. I teach my children and women in my village so it continues,” she added.
Shivamma, who has been coming to the fair for more than three decades, said, “IITF helps more people discover her work.”
With winter goods, herbal remedies, state crafts and award-winning artisans all under one roof, the IITF continues to draw large crowds seeking both shopping and relief from the city’s smog-filled days.
