Women display chaniya cholis at Gujarati Sanatan Samaj in Bistupur. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Oct. 17: Enterprising women from the Gujarati community waste no time to cash in on the craze for traditional attire during Navratri.

Hiring out chaniya cholis, ghagras and the traditional men’s wear called kerias is keeping these women busy these days. But for them, Navratri celebrations in the city would have been a low-key affair without colour and gaiety.

Jaswanti Adesara and her daughter in-law Pragna are busy with their usual routine throughout the year. But come Navaratri, and they take a break from their usual routine to provide colourful traditional costumes for children and youths of the Gujarati community. This duo from Contractor’s Area is renting out costumes for dandiya and garba for three decades.

The steel city presently boasts of at least two organisations and about 10 women involved in this business.

“Garba and dandiya are incomplete without traditional attires. But there is no place in Jamshedpur where these costumes can be procured. That is why we started getting these outfits from Gujarat and there has never been a dull year since then,” said Pramila Amin, vice-president of Gujarati Bhagini Samaj, which has been renting out costumes for 40-odd years.

The Gujarati Bhagini Samaj and the Sanatan Saheli Mandal are among the oldest organisations in the city bringing the dresses from cities such as Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Baroda. Members from the organisations visit Gujarat once every two years to get the latest stock. The women also get junk silver jewellery.

The women have several customers who come to make the most of the Rs 50-per-day rent. While advance and bulk bookings are welcome, delay in returning the dresses or damaging would invite a fine.

But the business is not without its share of challenges. “It is not possible to travel all the way to Gujarat every year to keep pace with the changing fashion. But somehow we try to manage,” added Pramila.