21 Dec 2023  |   06:10am IST

A star on the horizon

The vendors selling Christmas decorations specifically handmade stars with a bamboo frame seem happy with business staying steady and consistent

Ajit John

T

his is the season to be happy. The time for indulging in pastries, ignoring that increasing waistline and yes generally having a good time. It is also the time of Christmas decorations that are put up in residences or across buildings. As the years go by it seems like the expectations of the paying consumer seems to be increasing and they seem to want something unique.

In Panjim as the season is upon us it is not uncommon to come across shops retailing different kinds of Christmas decorations that seem to span various price points. Of late what seems to have caught the fancy of people is the availability of traditional stars made with a bamboo frame. It of course depends on an individual taste. For Teja Chodankar who has been in the business of making such items as stars, mistletoe etc, the experience has been interesting. She says some people want bamboo stars, others want something customised like a crib in the star. She said some people give metal frames for stars and she makes stars of different sizes. The smallest star she says she has made is one foot while the biggest is five foot. People, she said, wanted bigger stars for the roads. She said a 3 foot star would retail for Rs 500 to Rs 700 for bamboo stars.

Bigger ones she said would retail for more of course. Depending on the kind of material used a star she said could go for as much as Rs 1500 and above. This was for paper covering with cloth with even more expensive ones going for Rs 1800 to Rs 2000 and above. She said it would all depend on the quality and design of the cloth. She said she started doing this during the Covid time and she also makes stuff available for Diwali. She said she started off by selling it to friends and they then spread the word around. Business she said was increasing every year and she was working with her mother as a team. Her mother, she said, did all the cutting work involved.

Sabina who is involved in cutting and making the stars in a shop in Panjim said the pressure on price had increased. She said this was due to the fact that the paying public would usually buy a lot of decorations and then negotiate very hard. She said for a bamboo star it would mean a price between Rs 200 to 250 to even Rs 300. The bigger ones she said would retail up to Rs 1500. She said they would set up their stall fifteen days before Christmas and in a day she would make 3, 4 or 5 stars a day. She said on Christmas they would usually still have stuff in the stall because there were so many retailers in the market now. Sabina said they would bring different kinds of paper every year which would mean that costs would increase. She said she was setting up the stall in front of the same shop for over ten years and she said she would continue to do so in the years ahead.

For Lia Rodrigues who had a stall in an exhibition at Institute Menezes Braganza last week it has been a hectic time handling orders. For a girl who struggled to make one star as a school kid in one day to her time today when she is able to make 20 stars comfortably it has been quite a change. For the hardworking Lia, she sends stars to residences via transport. She said the cost would include the cost of transport. She usually made an eco-friendly frame with Bamboo sticks tied up with thread decoration with non-tearable paper lasting more than 3 years. Rates start from Rs 750/-. She said business was good and she had received an order to redress 300 stars of different sizes. Lia also makes colourful paper lanterns, and a folding bamboo crib hut.

The demand for Christmas decorations is increasing every year by approximately ten percent and everyone in the business seems to have made some decent money. They will hope this trend continues in the years ahead.