Shop till you Drop: It146;s Diwali time

Little Rohit8217;s hurried breath echoes out loud across the huge shopping mall, as he rattles numbers backward. 8220;50, 49, 48,...3, 2, ...

Little Rohit8217;s hurried breath echoes out loud across the huge shopping mall, as he rattles numbers backward. 8220;50, 49, 48,8230;3, 2, 1!8221; he finishes in one stretch, to a huge round of applause. A triumphant smile crosses his chocolate stained 10-year-old face, as he receives the reward. Rohit has just been proclaimed the winner of one of the in-store festive-shopping-promotional-games at Pantaloons, Mumbai. The fact that his parents have spent around ten times the worth of his winning freebie 8211; a leather wallet 8211; while shopping means nothing to the triumphant child.

Minutes later, it8217;s another participant and another promotional game, but the bait remains the same 8212; join the fun, it8217;s shopping time, it8217;s Diwali time. The time that everyone stocks up for the winter with clothes, gadgets and appliances. The time that gifts are exchanged 8212; some for business purposes and some between friends and family.

The chain stores
The malls are all dressed up and on the go for the festival season with promotional games, discounts and offers to welcome the festivals and the shopping crowd that it brings. Decked up like a bride, Crossroads, the premium shopping mall in Mumbai has gone all out to attract the middle class crowd by putting out the 8216;homemaker offer8217;, that offers deals and discounts on home and electronic appliances.nbsp;Savita Lobo, a 24-year-old executive, caught shopping at a Westside store,nbsp;feels that Diwali in the modern context is all about spending ones savings. 8220;The financial independence that I enjoy allows me to break into a few liberties. The fact that it is my first festive allowancenbsp;makes it all the more exciting. A DVD for my family, gifts for friends and clothes for me,8221; exclaims a bubbly Lobo, showing her heavy shopping loot. Other stores like Shopper8217;s Stop has the Ha Ha Ha! Festival on to be part of and add to the feel-good atmosphere.

Promotional offers
Then there are those who wait the whole year for the festival season discounts and promotions to begin. For the Khanna family from Mumbai, Diwali shopping is a very scientific affair. They actually spend a whole week combing newspapers and markets for Diwali deals. 8220;We have been doing this for years, and will continue with thisnbsp;tradition. During Diwali, one tends to think emotionally and not practically. Within the family, we decide the necessities and chart a budget. Scanning offers and bargains help us to decide on the best deal,8221; says Dheeraj Khanna, 44, a businessman by profession. His family 8211; wife and two sons 8211; have no qualms about having to trawl through 100 shops before actually buying from the right retail outlet. 8220;This time our search is for a good television and audio system,8221; says Khanna. If the Khannas have been doing the Diwali bargain hunt for years, newcomers like Manish Kumar 29 waited for the Diwali shopping bug to hit the markets to avail the discounts and offers. Kumar who has just shifted to a new home from his friend8217;s apartment found Diwali as the right time to shop for his new house. 8220;I managed to buy stuff worth Rs 50,000, getting a free coffee table and a tea set8221;. His wait for the bargain offers paid off.


	Aarti the Designer Way A Diwali portrait is incomplete without the traditional kalash and diya. Niche Art Gallery offers festive decorations in copper withnbsp;colourful enamel coating. Welcome the goddess of wealth with metal this year. Price range: products priced between Rs 40 and Rs 5,500 Available at Shopper8217;s Stop

Some promotions you could buy into:

8226; LG8217;s 8216;Dhoom Macha De8217; offer. LG is giving out gifts with every purchase of LG products between October 14 and November 15.

8226; Electrolux8217;s 8216;Great Products, Dream Prices8217; offer. Reduced prices on aspirational products is the theme for Electrolux this year. For example, an Oxygen split air-conditioner is available at Rs 12,990, a Grill Maxiwave Oven at Rs 4,990, Fabriguard washing machine at Rs 6,990 and Ozone refrigerator at Rs 10,990.

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8226; Philips8217; Festival offer. Philips has reduced prices and earmarked Rs 20 crore to spend on advertising and promotional activities during this period. TV prices are down 20 to 30 per cent and a 15-inch Philips television now is priced at Rs 7,990 now as against the earlier Rs 9,990.

8226; Toyota Kirloskar Motors8217; Double Diwali offer. Prospective Corolla customers have a chance to win a gold set worth Rs 1.25 lakh, two citizen Eco Drive watches worth Rs 15,000 each and a gold coin besides a 8216;treasure with diamond, platinum and gold jewellery8217; worth Rs 12 lakh.

8226; IDBI Bank8217;s Diwali Discounts. Discounts on purchases using the IDBI credit card through shopping sites like rediff.com, indiatimes.com, homeindia.com and traveljini.com.

8226; HDFC Bank8217;s festival offer. HDFC Bank8217;s debit and credit card customers get discount vouchers from Esprit, Adora and Onkyo ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 1,000 on spending Rs 3,000 onwards.

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8226; ICICI Bank8217;s Swipe-n-Win offer. ICICI Bank offers a lucky draw to its credit card users, where the top prize is a Mercedes Benz E240. The more you use the card, the higher your chances of winning.

8226; Punjab National Bank8217;s Festival Season Bonanza. Special schemes for its loan takers between October 15 and December 31. Home loans at 7.75 per cent repayable up to 20 years and a rebate of 0.50 per cent per annum in the interest rate. Also, a complete waiver of processing documentation fee for eight schemes, including housing, car, consumer, traders, doctors, gold, pensioner and personal loan schemes.