There’s something about Diwali. This ambiguous ‘something’ finds meaning in the way the festival spins around itself, a spirit of jubilation, an energy of euphoria, and a festive fever that drowns the senses into a whirlpool of good luck and cheer. It’s also an occasion that nudges every fibre in our body to head out and quench the celebratory thirst to rejoice and reveal in the days glory but, on the other side, there are people just like us, who are working days in advance, unremittingly, to make our Diwali colourful, tasteful and bashful.
Sweet shops that start laying out plans to present new mouthfuls, manufacturers of decorations who start ideating on their new introductions, wholesalers who start the distribution to satisfy the demands of competitive retailers etc. These are the invisible soldiers who march up to the task of making Diwali a highlight for all of us each year, and in recognising their efforts, we stand in step with them. The Sunday Standard taps into the chance of meeting some of these people, who work at the back-end to make the forefront look beautiful, and it sure does, year after year. This year is no exception.
BACK-END STORY
Behind every product in the market, there is a hard-working individual. His face remains unseen and endeavours veiled behind glittering facades of attractive shops. Not anymore. We introduce you to some of them
Budding Blooms
MANMEET SINGH, wholesaler of artifical flowers
HIT THIS YEAR While marigold continues to be the top choice, new flowers for decoration that could gain popularity for decoration are lilies, tulips and bird of alachua. There is a greater demand for artifical flowers because their shelf life is more.
SOURCED From China STOCKING STARTS Two months in advance
SOLD TO Local shop owners all over the city
PRICE Rs 36-40 per stick
TRENDING We’ve been getting a lot of booking for floral swans and high pillars this time round
WHERE 681-682, First Floor, Main Sadar Bazar, near Canara Bank
Deepak Tyagi, wholesaler of fresh flowers
HIT THIS YEAR Chrysanthemums
sourced from Flower farmers in the outskirts of the city
STOCKING STARTS Two weeks prior to Diwali, fresh flowers are brought twice a day to be picked up by individual shopkeepers
PRICE Rs 60-70 for 10 pieces of chrysanthemums, which is half the retail price
SOLD TO Retailers over Delhi and NCR, and sent to Solan and Shimla
TRENDING Coiling the flowers on long wooden sticks and put in indoor and outdoor planters
WHERE B-59, IFC, Ghazipur Phool Mandi
A SWEET DEAL
Jawahar Aggarwal, Kaleva
WHAT’S NEW We’ve launched a couple of new ladoos called gondia ladoo and makaj ladoo. Last year, there was an increased demand for items that didn’t perish quickly; therefore we introduced these ladoos.
WORK STARTS For Diwali, we start at least 25 days in advance. We start dry-roasting the items in advance and then add other ingredients nearer the time to complete the sweet.
price Magaz Ladoo is priced Rs 345 for 800 gms; Gondia Ladoo is priced Rs 325 for 800 gms
AVAILABILITY No. 109, Bangla Sahib Road, Sector 4, Gole Market
Cédric Houzé, Executive Chef, L’Opéra
WHAT’S NEW Two classic French delights—Nougat, made with almond flower and pistachio paste; and velvety, buttery caramels made with French butter and crunchy varied nuts
WORK STARTS 6-7 months in advance
price Plain nougat is priced Rs 500 for 100 gms; pistachio paste nougat is priced Rs 600 for 100 gms; caramel sachet is priced Rs 480 for 130 gms
AVAILABILITY All L’Opéra outlets in the city
HIS TRUE COLOURS
Ujjwal Jain, wholesaler of rangoli colours
WHAT IT TAKES Minal dust is procured, broken down, purified and then coloured. After sifting through large quantities of this dust, a little bit is left that is then packaged to sell for rangolis
CHOICE OF COLOUR Admiral blue should be a popular selling hue. Additionally, tangerine orange will find many takers too
PRICE Rs 25-50 for a packet of minal dust, which is less than half the retail price. Here, the choice of colours are abundant
SOLD TO All over Delhi and NCR along with Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad
AVAILABILITY Ekartmart.com
break the mould
RAMA GUPTA, manufacturer of tea-light holders and decoratives
HIT THIS YEAR Tealights with pearls and plastic flowers should do good business. Golden will stay a popular colour
WORK STARTS A month in advance
SOLD TO Mostly corporates these days. Besides that, the main markets are Mumbai and Bengaluru. Delhi, of course, is a huge market that keeps me very busy every year
PRICE ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 1,500
AVAILABILITY Sector 93 A, ATS Village, Noida
IN GOOD LIGHT
DARSHAN SINGH, Manufacturer of Diwali lights
HIT THIS YEAR Usually, we see a lot of coloured lights all over. This time round, we are manufacturing more of single-coloured strings. The little bulbs get even tinier this time to incorporate more in one string
WORK STARTS Four months in advance
SOLD TO Vendors in Karol Bagh, Rajouri Garden, Lajpath Nagar, Kamla Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and Paharganj
PRICE Rs 30-50 a string which is then sold upwards of Rs 150 in popular markets
AVAILABILITY We have a factory on the outskirts of Delhi, but are products are available all over the city