As the Lokotsava at Campal’s Kala Academy Complex concludes and 25% of the stalls are already in ‘pack up’ mood and eager to return to their home states, TGLife spoke to some of the stall vendors how business was this year...
Every year the Lokotsav brings in handicrafts, hand weaves and other traditional specialities from various States to Goa, including the very own Goan art and craft. The festival invites a lot of footfalls of locals as well as the tourists who visit Goa, and this year remained mixed for the stall owners as far as business was concerned.
A charcoal artist Hemant Surlakar from St Inez who shared his stall with clay artist from Marcel, Nilesh Pednekar, shared that his charcoal paintings did not get good response this time and he could hardly sell any frame. Priced between Rs 10,000-15,000 his charcoal paintings were much in demand before the pandemic. Surlakar who displays his art at a gallery at Arambol is in charcoal painting for the past 23 years. “I remember doing good business in 2019 Lokotsav but this time I did not make any profit,” he claimed.
Sucheta Malkarnekar from Margao who sold cotton quilts, baby ‘mande’ and gowns was happy with her sales. Malkarnekar, who has 25 women working from their homes stitching quilts for her, has earned a reputation for selling pure cotton quality quilts that do not leave colour. In business for the past 23 years, she has a loyal clientele base in Goa and even abroad. “The newborn baby spreads (mande) are available in two sizes and prices vary between Rs 125-250.
Rajesh Khandeparkar, another Goan stall owner, has jute bags in various sizes. “We take bulk orders for bags for occasions like marriages to give as return gifts,” he disclosed. Akashi Deka’s stall has Goan speciality – Kunbi dupattas sold for Rs 1000 each. “It’s a handloom weave specially designed and created on looms in Assam. As there are very few weavers in Goa who still sit on their handlooms, I have made special arrangements for getting Goan Kunbi weaves from outside Goa,” says Deka, a textile technology expert who also sells pure cotton and pure silk hand-woven sarees from Assam priced at Rs 800-9,000. Mooga silk, Mulberry silk (Pat), Eri silk, Kazhiranga, Gosbuta, King Khap sarees are Deka’s speciality along with shawls, gamcha and mekhali bed-sheets. She has been a regular stall setter in Lokotsav since 2016.
Amit Parekh from Thane, a self-trained artist who works with wife Shalini and seven other women, has creative eco-friendly artworks, all handmade and reasonably priced. Stones from Gangasagar river in Gujarat are colourfully turned into attractive paperweights, waste newspapers have taken shape of flower vases, bamboo pen stands, wooden wall hangings, framed wall paintings – all nature friendly and sold at Rs 50-500.
The brass bangles, silk ethnic batue (hanging purses), brocade purses for occasions from Uttar Pradesh stood out for their bright-coloured embroidery, exclusive designs and reasonable prices. Shahjahan from Uttar Pradesh has cotton bed sheets, in single and double size for Rs 300 and Rs 600 respectively. Navalkishor from Rajasthan sold colourful ‘mojadi’ to be worn on festivals and special occasions, varying Rs 250-800.
There were stalls selling apparel, sarees, kurtas, bed-sheets, rajai, purses, footwear, jewellery, wooden toys, ceramics, metal art, cloth and jute bags, leather items, wall hangings, paintings etc but the stalls that sold food and beverages were more crowded.
