HYDERABAD: After the “Eid ka chand” (crescent moon) was spotted in India on Sunday, vendors at Chand Raat Market in the Old City, awaiting maximum customer footfall for the entire night got a shock with the heavy rainfall.
In the yearly Chand Raat market at Hyderabad, which looks like a decorated fair stretched between Shalibanda to Naya Pul Chaurasta in the Old City, people from across the city and outside shop throughout the night. The rains disrupted a cheerful market and people stayed indoors instead of going on a shopping spree right before Eid. The worst hit are small vendors who put up stalls on the road or make sales roaming in the market.
Ramesh, a vendor, who sells footwear at a roadside corner near Charminar said, “Ours is an uncertain business. Sales depend on timing and on the whims and fancies of the customers. Chand Raat is huge for us. But this time, the moment I set up the footwears, the rain began to pour. All my footwears are drenched already and there are very few customers in the night market this time. I will have to return home without any business.”
Some vendors, who had paid some thousands of rupees to middlemen for a little space to set up their stalls, especially for Chand Bazar were left in a soup with the rains disrupting their business knowing that nobody would return their money. Sultan, another vendor who sells socks in the open said, “I have no hope for any business, this Chand Raat. Who will buy my wet socks? I waited for this night throughout the month to make some sales. Already, we have been bearing the after effects of demonetisation, at least Eid could have been a happy one for us. But, who can think of celebration when there is no money to be spent on our children?”
Syed Mohsin, who stays in Old City said, “Unlike last few years, this is the first time that there was no rush in Chand Raat Market. However, it’s only 10 pm. I hope luck favours and Allah blesses the vendors who wait for this night throughout Ramzan for good sales. The rain tonight is a kick in the stomach for them.”