As Eid-ul-Fitr approaches, people in Hyderabad have started their shopping for the festival. Most shoppers purchase cloth to get clothes stitched later on, while some buy ready-made garments. The cloth merchants have reported that business is picking up as there haven’t been any disturbances so far.
During the first week of Ramzan, Muslims purchase clothes and dress materials for the entire family and give them to tailors to get them ready by the second week. Tailors stop accepting any new orders by the second week as they are already flooded with orders. Men usually purchase materials for kurta-pyjama, safari, shirts, and trousers, while women and children shop for suits, frocks, and dresses for stitching.
According to the Hyderabad Wholesale Art Silks Cloth Merchants’ Association president Govind Agarwal, every year the textile industry makes a turnover of crores as Muslims shop for Eid. The association comprises 325 members who procure stocks from traders in Mumbai and Gujarat and sell them in the markets. Traders stock clothes a month in advance, and many stores are known for their designer wear. This year, customers have hundreds of new design clothes to choose from, and there is an increase in competition. People tend to buy branded and designer dresses in the Old City too. In the last few years, there used to be a few hundred shops in the stretch, but now there are thousands, and the competition has doubled.
Rakesh Sharma, owner of Sri Devi textiles, Sultan Bazar, said the showroom is ready with an entire new collection of dress materials and suits for Ramzan. They procured dresses from Mumbai, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and also locally. The wholesale textiles markets in the city witness a huge rush during Ramzan, and apart from local customers, several retailers, including those from districts, also procure materials worth lakhs of rupees.
Meanwhile, tailors are busy working overtime as demand for dresses remains high. Many tailors employ dozens of workers in Ramzan. Khaja Pasha, owner of Modesto Men’s Tailors, said the Ramzan season is the busiest time for them, and each worker stitches about five to six pieces every day. Workers do their work till late at night. Youth wear kurtas not only for Eid but also for other festivals nowadays.
Apart from catering to the locals, Ramzan shopping in the Old City is also a big tourist pull. Several foreigners are seen thronging the narrow streets every year.
