Blast casualty: footfalls fall in Puja pandals, Ramlilas

Sharda, 57, who travels from Jamnagar in Gujarat to sell junk jewellery at Kali Mandir pandal in Chittaranjan Park every year, says 8220;something8221; is missing in the celebrations this year. He cannot pin it down to any reason in particular, but 8220;even yesterday there were not as many people as you would normally see on Ashtami at this pandal. Even those seemed to be looking around themselves 8212; people sure are enjoying themselves; just that it8217;s a little different this time round.8221;

But Sonali Mukherji, a volunteer at the pandal, puts the attendance at normal 8212; 8220;like every other year8221;. She says, 8220;The nominal drop is because there is no weekend during the Pujas this year. There must be about 6,000 people here already, and more should come for aarti at 7 pm.8221;

The Navratri period is normally lean for restaurants, and it8217;s no different this time, says Moi, the hostess at Piccadelhi in Connaught Place. Manoj, the manager, says the restaurant has reduced its stock of non-vegetarian fare and liquor for the Navratri period. 8220;Sales would probably pick up from tomorrow; we expect people to go out more,8221; he adds.

Pawan, of Mithas restaurant in Daryaganj, blames the blasts, and the scare in their aftermath, for the drop in sales. 8220;We have a special Navratri thali which is doing alright but not many people have come out since the blasts,8221; he says.

The movie theatres have also seen an alarming drop in footfalls. Officials at PVR Plaza in Connaught Place say though ticket sales usually drop to about 50 per cent of capacity during the Puja-Navratri period 8220;but sales have really slumped since the blasts8221;.

Pawan Kumar, who runs a paan shop in the PVR Anupam complex in Saket, says, 8220;People do not sit around in the complex anymore. Sales have thus taken a huge hit.8221;

The Ramlilas, too, have not escaped. Even at the popular Ramlila Grounds in Daryaganj, attendance has dropped significantly. The joint military secretary of the Indraprastha volunteer board, Satish Verma, says minimum attendance at the grounds has been around 50,000 this year. 8220;Usually, the number on any given day during Ramlila is more than 80, 000,8221; Verma says. He says many people who usually come from far-flung parts of the Capital have given it a miss this year.

Hope still floats, though. 8220;Maybe more people will come later this evening and tomorrow,8221; Verma says with pursed lips.

With inputs from Akshay Kumar V and Pallavi Jain