Restaurants spread out shamianas on the footpath outside for the crowds waiting to dine. Movie halls put up housefull boards and had to decline hopefuls who wanted more tickets. Malls were full of revellers, sweet shops had a field day… Poila Baisakh 2022 had all the sights of the old normal again.
Kalpataru in CA Market had a sweet beginning to the new year. “Crowds thronged our outlet from 7.30 in the morning, in fact from the day before. We prepared four times our usual quantity of sweets and they flew off the shelves,” smiled Prasenjit Sil, a partner at the sweet shop.
Sweet beginnings
Hordes of customers at Banchharam’s.
Brinda SarkarPoila Baisakh, Sil said, marks one of the their highest sales in the year, alongside Vijaya Dashami, Ashtami, Lakshmi puja, Bhai Phonta and Kali puja, and they had come up with several new desserts for the occasion this time — Kesar Rasmalai, Kesar Rajbhog, Strawberry Sandesh… By 12.30pm on Poila Baisakh, only three pieces of their Gopal Bhog — a malai-and-syrup desert — were left.
Banchharam’s in FC Block opened two hours earlier than usual on Poila Baisakh and saw great footfall through the day. Even as late as 1.30pm, there was a crowd of 15 people at the counters. “Things had started looking up since a few months ago and Poila Baisakh sales lived up to our expectations. Corporate orders that had dried up in the last two years - are back too. We also tied up with the upcoming film Bela Shuru and launched two new sweets two days before Poila Baisakh. Both sold well,” said Subhajit Ghosh, a director of Banchharam’s,
The mood was just as festive in New Town. “Our AE Block branch, that makes about Rs 23-24,000 sales a day, recorded about Rs 75,000 sales on Poila Baisakh,” smiled Manoj Nandy, who runs three branches of Shree Krishna Mistanno Bhander – two on either side of the bus terminus and one near Balaka Abasan. “Twenty-five to 30 customers thronged the outlets at a time. We had four staffers manning the counters but still there were queues building up outside.”
The mood was bullish at The Mishti Hub at Eco Park too. Suprabhat Dey, owner of Nabakrishna Guin, said: “Sweet shops were closed only for six months after the first lockdown. Sales have been quite high throughout the year. But this year on Poila Baishakh we had sales beyond our expectations. The numbers were greater than even pre-pandemic times. We can safely say that the sweets market has braved all challenges and is doing quite well now.” Rosogolla, chamcham and khirer sandesh sold the most, he added.
Sandeep Basu manning the Banchharam counter said: “We have had good footfall at Mishti Hub during the festive weekend. Though we were expecting sales to go up, but not in such a big way. Sales went beyond our expectations. Boisakh also marks the beginning of the wedding season, so we hope the momentum will continue.” At his counter, too, traditional sweets like rajbhog and kamalabhog saw maximum demand.
Among fusion items, chocolate sandesh and jol bhora sandesh with chocolate mousse did well.
Festive dining
Diners await their festive platters at Chowman in BF Block
6 Ballygunge Place had put up shamianas outside their DD Block outlet for customers to sit and wait while at Oudh 1590, on the opposite flank of the road, sales were at par with pre-pandemic times.
“Poila Baisakh was the first festival after the lifting of the Covid restrictions and people lived it up. In Calcutta, whether you are a Bengali or not, everyone celebrates this day. This year our sales were at par with pre-Covid times,” said Debaditya Chaudhury, managing director, Chowman Hospitality, Chapter 2-Retro Dining and Oudh 1590.
But it’s no secret that the pandemic has strained finances and so Golden Tulip had slashed the prices of their buffet and combo-meals to suit all kinds of diners. “Our Bengali meals were priced between Rs 700 and 1,100. These had favourites like pulao, luchi, chicken and fish items but the more lavish options of prawn and mutton were only on the a la carte menu as otherwise they would have increased the prices,” said general manager Sumanta Maity. Golden Tulip recorded about 70 per cent footfall as compared to pre-pandemic days.
Customers didn’t restrict themselves to Bengali cuisine on the day either.
“We were delighted to see steady footfall on the day of customers buying coffee, cookies, cakes as well as our Poila Baisakh menu including items like Kathal Biryani and Channar Paturi,” said Sandeep Gupta, founder of Dunkel Braun, opposite City Centre. “People are in the mood to celebrate again.”
At the theatre
The cinema hall at Nazrul Tirtha got about 500 viewers on Poila Baisakh. “That’s a huge improvement on the four or five spectators we were getting previously during the pandemic. Now we have 50-60 per cent hall occupancy on a daily basis and sold 1,500 tickets over the Poila Baisakh weekend,” said manager Pijush Pal.
Inox too welcomed the good times. “Going to the cinema is back in vogue. Films like K.G.F: Chapter 2 and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore are drawing people back to the halls. People love going to the movies on long weekends and the Poila Baisakh weekend did just that,” said Amitava Guha Thakurta, regional director, Inox Leisure.
Movie-goers line up for tickets outside Carnival Cinemas on Poila Baisakh
Ancillary industries reaped the benefits of ticket sales too. The Carnival Cinemas corner was abuzz on the first day of the Bengali year. “Last year on Poila Baisakh we were in near-lockdown condition. We did meagre business, that too serving people from under half-down shutters,” said Ram Kesh Yadav of Chowrasia Chats next to the hall, now churning out pao bhaji platters by the dozen.
Carnival Cinemas ran their shows at no less than 80 per cent occupancy on the day. “And our late night shows are going house full,” said Saneep Paul from behind the counter. Their last show for the day – K.G.F: Chapter 2 — ended at 2.47am.
Several shops performed puja at their outlets on Poila Baisakh and invited customers over. One such was the flower shop Flower Petals near City Centre. “The last two years we could neither invite customers nor visit the Kalighat temple for blessings. But the new haal khata must be started on this day and so we performed the puja with our shutters half-down,” said proprietor Antara Saha. This year, lots of customers came over and they distributed 40-45 packets of sweet. “Plus Poila Baisakh is a wedding day, so many bouquets were sold as anniversary gifts too.”
Spoken too soon
Customers check out products at The Bedding Emporium in CA Market.
Brinda Sarkar
Customers browse for goodies at Dunkel Braun on Poila Baisakh
Basak Jewellery Museum in AE Block saw decent footfall, although not as robust as pre-pandemic times. “What with raw material and fuel price hikes induced by the Ukraine war, people are not spending as much as before. They are cautious and will buy only what is necessary,” said Ashok Kumar Basak of the store.
Agreed Keka Paul, proprietor of Mabesha sari shop in BE Block. “We are very happy with Poila Baisakh sales but buying habits have changed. People in Salt Lake earlier bought out of habit, not out of need. But now they are buying only when there is a wedding, thread ceremony or new year celebration to look forward to. Someone who bought three to four saris for an occasion earlier is now buying at most two,” Paul said.
Biswajit Saha of CA Market’s Sarada Fashion felt footfall was below average on Poila Baisakh as many had left for vacations over the extended weekend. Many other shops had skipped the puja itself.
“Some of us performed it at temples or homes. Celebrating in the shop means hosting 100 or so guests and handing out that many packets of sweets. Who has spending power after a prolonged pandemic?” asked Arun Roy, who runs The Bedding Emporium at CA Market and is also the secretary of CA Market Byabsayee Samity. “There’s also a manpower crunch now. Many staffers have had to be relieved from duty due to the pandemic and without them, who will arrange the puja?”
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