Eid means joy. There is no discrimination in the sharing of joy in religious practice. But that gap remains in our social system. Eid is a joy for the rich but it may not always be for the poor. Still everyone forgets everything and shares the joy of Eid in one line.
Eid is two/three days left. Many people have already finished their Eid shopping. Low-income people usually come last and buy according to their means. And since they don’t have much time, they run to different shops to buy their favorite clothes. As a result, Eid shopping is piling up on the sidewalks of Chittagong like other parts of the country. Here you can find everything from clothes, shoes to cosmetics at low prices. Adult shirts are available for 200 to 250 taka, Punjabi shirts for 300 taka, and new pajamas for 150 to 200 taka in sidewalk shops. Again, clothes worth a thousand taka, shoes of two to three thousand taka are also available in these footpath shops.
The City Corporation started eviction of hawkers in Chittagong before the beginning of Ramadan. The hawkers have been evicted from the commercial, station road, jubilee road areas of the city, but the hawkers have again arranged the stalls of Eid products in view of Eid. Now when you go out in these areas, you will hear the ever-familiar tune ‘Chai Chai Lo Bachi, Bachi Lo’.
Starting from the city’s New Market Junction, Amtal Jubilee Road on one side, New Railway Station Road, Laldighi Par, Teribazar to Andarkilla, Jamalkhan Road, Chowkbazar, Sholashar 2nd Gate, GEC Junction, Agrabad, Oxygen Junction, Alankar, Halishahar, Freeport areas are now paved. crowded People are flocking to buy shirts, T-shirts, Punjabis, Pajamas, pants, three-pieces, children’s clothes, shoes, sandals, cosmetics, watches, fancy glasses from temporary shops and rickshaws in these areas.
On Sunday (April 7) at noon, the sky was suddenly covered with black clouds. Along with winter and rain. But the sky clears after noon. As soon as the sun comes out, shopping starts at the sidewalk shops. At noon, a hawker was selling old men’s shirts in front of the New Market and was shouting, ‘One piece at twenty-five, one pair at five hundred’.
Ali Azgar was doing Eid shopping from the sidewalk of New Market area with his one-year-old daughter and wife. His village home is in Hajiganj area of Chandpur, he lives in a rented house in Motherbari area of Chittagong city. Ali Azgar works as a laborer loading and unloading goods at Mazhirghat. He told Jago News, ‘I have been married for three years. I live in a rented house with my wife and children. Low income family. Therefore, even if it is Eid, it is not possible to go to the big market and shop. I bought a saree for my wife for 800 taka. I bought a shirt for me for two and a half rupees. I bought a dress for my daughter for four hundred rupees, a pair of shoes for two hundred rupees. Our Eid will be with these.’
Ali Azgar said, ‘Now the import is very less. There is very less work in Majhirghat. Even a year ago, where I used to earn from 700 to 1000 taka, now it sometimes comes down to 400 taka. A lot of time is spent sitting idle. Without work we have no income. That is why we are more concerned about providing food than clothes.’
There are numerous shoe shops on the road in front of the old Jalsa Market. Here, starting from 150 taka sandals to 1 thousand 800 taka sneakers are being sold. Talked with shoe seller Kamrul Hossain. Kamrul told Jago News, ‘We are bringing good quality sneakers from importers and selling them on the pavement. We sell three to five hundred rupees less than the market. Because we don’t have shop expenses.’
He said, ‘The city corporation evicted the hawkers here the week before the fast. Now we are sitting again on the occasion of Eid. I do not know what is on the forehead after Eid.’
Sajeda Akhtar and Majeda Akhtar of Chagalnaya in Feni came to Chittagong in search of work to run the family without parents. These two sisters have been working in a garment factory in Nasirabad area for the past four years. As their clothing factory was closed on Sunday, they came to do Eid shopping. Elder sister Sajeda said, ‘My husband also works in a garment factory. Our income does not accumulate enough money to pay the house rent and monthly food expenses. It is not possible to buy two good clothes with the bonus that is available on Eid. Another sister and mother live in the village house. They have to send money every month. That’s why Eid is happy for everyone but not so happy for us. Still came to do some shopping to celebrate Eid. Everything in the market shop is expensive. So I shop from the sidewalk.’
Chittagong’s busiest hawker market in Agrabad commercial area. Especially in front of Akhtaruzzaman Centre, Old Chamber House, Jeevan Bima Bhavan, Science Museum from Agrabad Hotel Junction, Commerce College Road to New Chamber, there are thousands of shops on footpaths and streets. Usually after four in the afternoon, the sidewalks here are crowded, but on holidays, there is a spread of useful products including clothes and shoes from the morning. From domestic exportable shoes to foreign good quality shoes are also sold here. In view of Eid, the shops here do not sell until Sehri.
Ilyach of Brahmanbaria’s Nasirnagar area has been selling t-shirts in a van in Chittagong for several years. He told Jago News, ‘Business is good in shops before Eid. I have kept a new collection for Eid. T-shirts that are being sold at Tk 1200 to Tk 1500 in many shops of Akhtaruzzaman Center, I am selling the same T-shirt here at Tk 800. But these T-shirts came from the same place in Dhaka.
Ahad Mia sells children’s clothes in a van. He told Jago News, ‘I also have export items. Clothes are available for one hundred to five hundred taka. The clothes are also of good quality. I also have clothes in this van that are sold in elite stores in the city. But because we do business on the sidewalk, the price of our products is low. However, there is no additional cost to our store. Those who have shops in the market have higher costs. So they have to sell products at higher prices. We sell clothes at a limited profit.’
Kamal Hossain works in a commercial organization in Agrabad area. He has two children aged two and three and a half years. Get a salary of 15 thousand rupees per month. Kamal told Jago News, ‘I live with my family in a small house with a rent of 6,000 taka. We have a strained family with a wife and two children. The joy of Eid is a luxury for us. We will have a real Eid only if we can give new clothes to the children. So came here to shop with kids. I can buy relatively good clothes at a much lower price than the markets here.’
MDIH/KSR/GKS
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