Busy time of the year: Capital residents throng Rawalpindi markets for Eid shopping

Metro bus service has made it easier for Islamabad residents to travel to Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI: With Eidul Fitr around the corner, Rawalpindi appears to come to life, with strands of fairy lights seen cascading down buildings, and throngs of people flooding markets to buy clothes, footwear, cosmetics, jewellery, bangles, mehndi and other items.

This year, however, the crowd appears jam-packed, as residents of Islamabad have begun to frequent the markets in Rawalpindi, in large numbers.

Shopkeepers attribute this to the availability of relatively cheaper and diverse merchandise, as well as the ease with which residents of the two cities can commute to the other, with the introduction of the metro bus service.

“There is an almost 40 to 50 per cent difference in the prices between Rawalpindi and Islamabad,” said Muhammad Ayaz, a salesman at a clothing store.

“If customers shop at Jinnah Super Market, Kohsar Market or Centauras Mall, they pay almost double,” he said.

Ayaz noted that there had been an increase in the demand for ready-made clothes, speculating that the weather must be a reason for the shift in preference.

“People prefer buying ready-made outfits instead of having to scour markets for clothes, laces, and buttons, and making repeated trips to the tailors, in this hot weather, while fasting,” he said.



Raja Liaquat Ali, another salesman, expressed his vexation regarding the increase in illegal parking outside shops, as a result of the increase in visitors with the launch of the metro bus service. “Our customers often complain of the unavailability of parking space since the metro got operational. As people now park their vehicles outside shops and then take the bus service to their offices in Islamabad.”

If we complain, we get threatened by the more influential of these persons, he complained.

Khussas in demand

“Leather khussas and kolapuris are in great demand this year, due to their durability and comfort,” says Hina Salman, owner of a khussa house at Bank Road Saddar.

She said she brought in her stock of intricately designed, embroided khussas, kolapuris and kharis, from Multan, Jaranwala, and Ahmadpur Sharqia.

“Foreigners prefer locally hand-made khussas, which curve upwards at the front, while locals prefer kolapuris and kharis,” Salman observed, sharing that diplomats from the American, British and Turkish embassies were frequent customers.

Despite the recent popularity of hand-painted khussas, our customers somehow still maintain a preference for embroidered, she added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2016.