Prayagraj: Every city has a ‘one-stop’ neighbourhood for wedding shopping and a go-to shop there which sells everything you need. A shop in Chowk area of Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj was no different. However, as the second wave of coronavirus pandemic continues its lethal run, the demand has been higher for items required for funerals, rather than weddings.
As people called off wedding plans, shops selling wedding materials had to look for a new way to sustain their business. At a time like this, Ankit Agarwal’s shop, which has been the go-to person during the wedding season in Prayagraj for generations, has now been forced to sell materials used for last rites.
According to a Times of India report, Ankit Agarwal was not the only one. Shops around him also started selling funeral items as their existing stocks remained unsold for months.
“The entire city is witnessing a record number of Covid cases and the old city area and areas adjoining Chowk are no exception. Although my family is in the business of wedding items, we are now selling things needed for last rites,” Ankit told TOI.
Apart from the shops in the Chowk area, outlets selling items needed for cremation have opened up in several other localities in the city where customers can find everything – from titti (bamboo stretcher), white cloth, mat, garland, earthen diya, camphor, rope, janoi (sacred thread), kumkum, black sesame seeds, barley, sandalwood powder, betel nut, rice to honey and Gangajal.
Pictures had surfaced from several cremation grounds in Uttar Pradesh showing people queued up for funerals. With COVID-19 deaths rising exponentially, graveyards and crematoriums have been finding it difficult to arrange for burial grounds.