Karishmita Saikia
With just a day left for Christmas, people are busy shopping all necessary items for the auspicious festival. In Guwahati, bakeries and general shops are witnessing huge customer flow ahead of the festival.
All bakery owners are busy baking beautiful and delicious cakes for their customers. A wide variety of cakes including chocolate, vanilla and red velvet cakes are in stock and being sold.
While speaking to some of the bakery owners in Guwahati’s Ganeshguri area, they claimed that this year their sale has improved since last year.
The owner of ‘Bakes and Bites’ in Ganeshguri said, “The peak time of sale is on the eve of Christmas that is December 24. However, people have already started their orders a long time ago."
Speaking on the price of the cakes, he said, “Though there is price hike of several commodities in the market at present, people have found the price of our cakes reasonable. We bake a wide variety of cakes in various size and shapes. The minimum price starts from Rs 280 and differs with the flavor and size.”
A bakery owner in Hatigaon area stated, “As compared to last year, the customer flow this year is high as with no Covid-19 restrictions in place, not only Christians, but people of all faiths have come out to celebrate the festival freely. We are very happy with the sale this year and hope that this would continue in the coming years too.”
On the other hand, shop owners selling Christmas items have also expressed their satisfaction with the sale this season.
The owner of ‘Talukdar and Sons’ in Silpukhuri area said, “This shop was opened around 45 years ago when I was young. We put up a stall just next to our main shop every Christmas. This time we opened the stall on December 1. All our items are sold by December 25.”
“We have all kind of goods starting from Christmas trees, bells, stars, Santas, etc. and many people including children have already come to purchase these items. Children from missionary schools have purchased many items needed for decoration,” he added.
Another shop owner said, “I have been putting up stalls during Christmas since the last 38 years. There were just a handful of shops at that time. I have seen a vast change in items, their designs, availability and prices.”
On the other hand, a shop owner in Zoo Road said, “Last year, due to some Covid-19 restrictions in place, we could not put our stalls outside. The customer flow was also very minimal. But this time we are glad that there are no restrictions and hence we are able to put the stalls outside. People are visiting our shops and buying the required items.”
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ which is celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. Though celebrations were marred for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year things have come back to normal and people have geared up to celebrate the festival in churches as well as their homes.
