RAJKOT: Sweet shop owners were pleasantly occupied after customers flocked to their establishments to stock on local sweet and delicacies amid Dussehra festivities in Rajkot on Sunday.
The festive period of Navratri and Dussehra has brought back cheer to sweet shops leaving the owners hopeful for good business in the year-end. Many small and medium-sized businesses were impacted due to the COVID-19 lockdown over the last few months.
“It is for the first time since the lockdown was imposed that so many customers have visited our shop. It felt like our business has revived,” Jagdish Bhai Akbari, a sweet shop owner, told ANI.
Sweet shop owners are also expecting an improvement in sales with the upcoming marriages season.
“As life limps back to normal, we also expect our customers to return to the shops. Marriage season, Diwali and new year are ahead. Seeing people return to our shop gave us hope for better business,” the shop owner added. Sweets are an essential part of Dussehra celebration across the country and especially in Gujarat where demand for traditional sweets like ‘Jalebi’, ‘Fafda Ganthiya’ and ‘Fasan’ are on an all-time high during this period.
“Sweet shops in Rajkot make around 900 varieties of sweets during these festivities. Their Kaju Katli, Jalebi and Fasan are the best in Gujarat. It has been a long wait for us to be able to buy sweets due to the lockdown,” Megha Thakkar, a customer, told ANI.
The 10th day of Sharad Navratri is celebrated as Dussehra or Vijay Dashmi which is marked as the victory of ‘good’ over ‘evil’. (ANI)