Kolkata Durga Puja, Last-minute shopping is more fun!

KOLKATA, Sept. 28: Being the last Sunday before Durga Puja, it seemed as if the entire city was out on the streets as shopaholics from the suburbs joined the crowds.With weather playing spoilsport for the last couple of days, Kolkatans were out to get the best bargains in family stores around the city. The situation in popular haunts such as New Market, Gariahat and Shyambazar was far from normal. Some visitors at an Esplanade shopping plaza had to wrest their way into stores and compete for the attention of shopkeepers. Shop-owners, however, are keen to attract more customers. They deployed temporary workers, carrying umbrellas, to help visitors reach the respective shops. “It is hectic to attend to every visitor and show garments and accessories to match their preferences. So, we have engaged an additional number of sales clerks,” said a Citi Mart spokesperson. It was even more difficult to walk through the crowded streets as Puja pandals were encroaching the streets and barricades had been put up by the traffic police and Public Works Department. Major thoroughfares were blocked with long queues of vehicles. But even traffic snarls couldn’t keep back the last-minute shoppers. “As this is the last weekend for us to complete our shopping we have no other choice,” said Ms Supriya Ray of Bandel. n SNS