Will the approaching festival season turn out to be a washout?

The Covid-19 situation is showing no signs of receding in the volume of damage it has done. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has predicted that Covid cases will peak in November which means one of India’s money-spinners - the festival season - will be whitewashed.

Starting from July 25 with Nagara Panchami in the south, the string of festivals ending with Tulasi festival is now under jeopardy. In between these two festivals, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navarathri and Deepavali are lined up and all these are festivals with a high level of participation. Over 70% of people are directly involved in the festivals in some way and nearly 20% of them indirectly in providing logistics and services.

According to C R Janardhana, president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, “There will be a marked effect, not just because of the Covid-19 situation but also because of the socio-economic conditions that will prevail due to lockdowns and slowdowns. These will contribute quite heavily in accrued losses to the trade and industry. Bengaluru city alone, especially on Avenue Road, Chikpet, Nagarpete, C T Pete, Mamoolpete and Sirsipete, do business of Rs 100 crore per day during the festive season in silverware, silk sarees, utensils, poojaware (brass and silver) and gold jewellery. In the rest of Karnataka especially in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi etc, the turnover is a few times more.”

Janardhana, however, says the lockdown, currently on, will be a dampener. “In the run-up to the festive season, lockdown will not augur well, and I do not know how many more to follow, but the losses to the trade and industry can safely be put at Rs 5,000 crore in a typical seven-day lockdown.”

The trading community and the industrialists are worried that despite the government permitting the long process manufacturing and logistics to continue to function in the lockdown period, the festival season is also that time of the year when workers will expect a little extra than their wages from their employers.

“Some of them are working with me for 20 years and never was there a year when I did not pay them a bonus, but this time, the approaching festive season is giving me shivers as the company has done badly due to migration of labour and I cannot face my workers especially when they look at me with expectant eyes,” says G M Suresh, owner of a small scale enterprise in Dasarahalli in Bengaluru.

When it is time for festivals, it is also time for flowers in the flower growing areas of North Karnataka and few districts of South Karnataka. Karnataka accounts for 75% of India’s total flower production the range is also extensive - chrysanthemum, jasmine, crossandra, rose, tuberose, aster, marigold, champaka and many local varieties.

Remarked G M Divakar, President of the K R Market Flower Merchants Association, Bengaluru: “We are experiencing a horrendous development as the organised market has vanished. The growers are not willing to coming to the central facility at K R Market in Bengaluru for selling in the wholesale market. This is understandable as they have to deal with time limits, distances, market fees and brokerage.” He added: “We have allowed them to do so considering the prevailing conditions. This will continue till the end of the festival season in November.”

Karnataka has the country’s only organised flower market where over 6,000 flower growers not just from Karnataka but also from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu sell flowers.

Krishna Janmashtami is a big draw in Udupi – no devotee leaves the car street that day with without his own hamper of Ashtami laddoos and chaklis. Thousands of them participate in the Janmashtami celebrations called Vitla Pindi. Youth masquerading as tigers, paint their bodies with colours of tiger and roam the city enchanting children and elders with their `tiger dance’.

Dahi Handi

Similarly in Mumbai, the ‘Govindas’ move from place to place making human pyramids and bringing down the ‘Dahi Handi’ which is witnessed by lakhs of people crowded on the streets and from the building tops. It is most likely that all these forms of celebrations on Janmashtmi or Gokulashtami will be done away and relegated to a minimum scale this time.

Festivals like Ugadi and Mahashivarathri earlier this year have been held quietly within the safety of the houses. Similarly, Id-ul-Fitr which is the last day of Ramzan in May, was not celebrated with the usual spirit.

“Another big festival for Muslim fraternity - Bakrid - will also be held in a similar subdued fashion by July-end. We have to forego the usual mass gatherings and celebrations. But if the government allows at least a few people to hold festive Namaz in each Jamaat as per the Standard Operations Protocol of the Central government, we will be much obliged. However, our Zakat contribution to the poor and the needy continued mostly in cash and kind, which we are happy about” senior cleric Qatib Rafiq Madani opines.

The Christian fraternity is just hoping that the Covid situation will wither away by Christmas so that they can hold Christmas in the usual joyous manner.

The Catholic Bishops Council of India (CBCI) has already appealed to Parish-level leaders to maintain all Standard Operations Protocol, which has been followed diligently.

All communities prepare for the festival well in advance. In Karnataka, preparation of Ganesha idols has already begun in the coastal region. Unlike the moulded Ganesha idols like Bayaluseeme Ganesha makers, the coastal people use only handmade idols - the makers have to stock clay and other materials at least three months in advance.

Likewise, the Navadurga idols also need a long time to complete but this time the orders are becoming thinner, the idol makers complain. Only those who have taken vow (Harake) are interested. They are also waiting for the government to roll out the guidelines on Ganesha Chaturthi and Navarathri gatherings.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Mangaluru)