Market crisis takes glitter off Mumbai Diwali lights

Mumbai: Barely 48 hours before the biggest festival on the Hindu calendar, the glitter and sounds of Diwali are virtually missing in Mumbai - thanks to spiralling prices, tumbling stock markets and fears of lay-offs.

Most shopping malls and plazas in the city, as also the friendly neighbourhood mithaiwala (confectioner), though decked up for the occasion, are waiting for the elusive customers.

Diwali appears grim, dark and silent even though it coincides with a long weekend. The celebrations have yet to pick up.

Few people have bothered to put up the traditional Diwali lights or lanterns and the popular earthen lamps have no takers.

Even the evenings are relatively silent around the city without the sounds of firecrackers - the zing has gone out of the fireworks whose prices have shot up between 40-60 per cent as compared to last year due to shortage of labour.

"Usually, a week before Diwali, I complete 50 per cent of the season's total sales. And a day before Diwali the sales skyrocket," said Rakeshbhai Shah, proprietor of Bhavnagri Mart, one of the oldest sweetmeat retailers in the northwest suburbs.

The scenario is equally grim on the dry fruits front. The famed American Dry Fruit Stores has reported "just average" business. Fashion outlets have also been hit hard, with sales dropping 50 per cent.

"This year, since Diwali falls at the end of the month, people have yet to receive their monthly salaries," said Shailendra Singh, director of Blue Fashion Hub.