Too hard to resist

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 20: The 30-day pledge to traditionally shun non-vegetarian items due to the holy month of Kartik has ended and city residents are not missing a single opportunity to relish them.

Although, the occasion of Chhadakhai, the first day after the end of Kartik when people resort to eating non-vegetarian food, began on Sunday, they had to wait two more days this time to have fish, chicken or mutton in their menus as both Monday and Tuesday are observed as holy days.

Despite high prices of non-vegetarian food items, today people flocked to shops selling raw as well as cooked non-vegetarian items to celebrate Chhadakhai.

“We were away from such non-vegetarian delicacies for more than a month. It’s hard to stay away from such dishes, but the love for tradition had forced us to do so. Monday and Tuesday increased made our wait longer. That’s why I had to come here in the morning to purchase mutton which is Rs 400 per kg,” said Surya Prakash Subuddhi, a resident of Old Town, who had come to the Unit-IV market early in the morning as he thought later the market would be crowded.

The traders selling fish, chicken, mutton and eggs said that they had a heyday today, but the impact of Chhadakhai was not felt so much, as it was delayed by two vegetarian days.

“Many people, who were waiting for the month to end and could not resist their appetite for non-vegetarian food, had them on these two days. Even those who restrained on Monday had it on Tuesday. That’s why we had procured lesser items for Wednesday in comparison to Chhadakhai on a non-auspicious day,” said traders in Unit-IV market where most of the non-vegetarian sellers gather.

In the Unit IV market different fishes were sold at around Rs 200 per kg, which was around Rs 20 to Rs 40 more per kg, chicken crossed Rs 200 that is normally sold at Rs 170 to Rs 180 per kg. Similarly, mutton was sold today at Rs 400 per kg that was Rs 40 more than normal rate.

Secretary of mutton shop owners’ association Sk Srajan Quereshi said that they could have gained more had the Chhadakhai fallen on Wednesday instead of falling on Monday. “Besides, we have more orders from wedding parties as the wedding season has started. I sold today around 10 quintals of mutton which is double the sale on any normal day,” said Quereshi. The high prices of these non-vegetarian items also shot up with the inflated rates of vegetables. Those who wanted to have mutton settled for chicken seeing the huge price difference of these two items.

“I was thinking of buying one kilo of mutton, but the rate was so high that I preferred to have chicken instead. Besides, the vegetables prices also have gone up today after few days of low rates,” said Sashank Rath, a resident of Chandrasekharpur.

Fish merchants said that they had a good business today though it was below their expectations. In the morning people came in large numbers, but after 11am their number lessened.

“I sold more than three quintals of fish today, which is more than other days. But we were ready for such situations, as Chhadakhai sometimes falls on auspicious days when people refrain from having non-vegetarian food,” said Sk. Mustafa, a fish trader.