“Pratiksha Dixit, a Jaipur-based freelancer,elicits this less renowned shopping souk of the walled city which, in consonance with her, remains busier than a one-armed paper hanger all week long.”
The narrow lanes of Old Jaipur are glittering with the spirit of festivity, and scintillating Rakhis of all kinds. This festive time of the year carries a bundle of excitement for the city dwellers, and a fortune for seasonal vendors. On the backdrop of Pink walls of Chhoti Choupad, the sparkling and multicoloured Rakhis are a feast to one’s eyes. You may catch sight of a bunch of foreigners bagging some of these. Alice and Cynthia from Germany were so curious and psyched up by the festive tradition and mythological story behind the concept. One of the petty vendors, Nazira Bano had her customers glued to the artistic collection of Zardosi and Stone-engraved Rakhis. That’s the beauty of Indian festivals-a Muslim lady selling the artifacts of a Hindu festival with equal fervent and felicity.
“We just cannot miss out on this festive season when we have a leverage of being at the Shopping Heart of the old city,” says Dilip, another seasonal vendor for last 25 years. Dilip runs an electronic shop in the area for rest of the year. “The lanes are stuffed up with crowd all week long, and some of the hot picks of the season are selling like groceries,” adds his assistant.
This year’s Pandora’s Box, has in store, a mélange of varieties for the sisters. The faddish ‘Couple Rakhis’ are in the mainstream with a regular Zari, Zardosi or Floral Rakhi, embellished by flashing stones and intensely hued Kalavas, paired up with a Lumba Rakhi (Crowning with a Zari and stone engraved Cone with falling Lathkans). The Lumba Rakhis are for the sister-in-laws, and are worn like a pendant on the bangles or bracelet. The extravagant diamond studded or gold and silver plated Rakhis range around 450 to 1500 bucks. Some of the other intricately designed picks are the elegant Beads and Sandalwood Rakhis, Kundan and Pearl engraved Rakhis and last but not the least the Om and Swastik encrypted ones.
For the fantasy smitten toddlers, there is hardly any cartoon character left out to be embraced in the whimsical Kids Rakhi collection. Bal Ganesh, Doraemon, Spiderman, Chhota Bheem, and Disney Cartoons, are domineering the market this year, the musical and dancing Toy Rakhis being the show-stoppers.
The sleek and subtle use of threads and exquisite coloured stones has been the hallmark of Jaipur since centuries, which is the reason why these Rakhis possess an element of the city’s grandiose as well. These trivial artists of the less talked about by lanes of Jaipur are in fact the promulgators of the aesthetic culture of the city.
It might be a single day chapter of my life-a vividly hued chapter, but it comprises a whole different world for the minor hucksters who have high hopes on the niche market, and the paying propensity of city buyers.
