There is hustle and bustle in posh markets, Whereas business remained slow in middle-class markets. Premium products sell well, While the sellers of common consumer goods continued to wait for the customers. A financial newspaper gave the headline on the news of Dhanteras: ‘Diwali deepens expenditure divide’।
Today is the day of Prakash and Lakshmi worship. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity in the Hindu tradition. It is said that Lakshmi and Saraswati do not walk together. While from recent experience it seems that the grace of Lakshmi should become the source of progressive prosperity of the entire society, hence the grace of the goddess of learning is also necessary. Worship of money without conscience becomes the cause of rift in family and society. What was seen in the markets just before Diwali is an indication of Indian society being stuck in a similar abyss. On the day of Dhanteras, it was seen that there was a lot of activity in the markets of posh areas in the cities, whereas the atmosphere in the middle-class markets of the neighborhoods and suburban areas remained subdued.
There has been a lot of sales of premium products throughout this festive season, while sellers of general consumer goods have been waiting for customers. According to media reports, clothes priced above Rs 5,000 were sold well, while the market for cheap clothes remained slow. A financial newspaper headlined its report: ‘Diwali deepens expenditure divide’. These days the gold and silver market is hot, so ordinary middle class buyers stayed away from such stores, while expensive coins and gold bars were sold in abundance. President of All India Gem and Jewelery Domestic Council said- ‘We are estimating 10 percent less sales this year, although even then we will sell gold at 20 percent higher price.’
The same trend has been evident from the latest sales report of Maruti Company. The Union Finance Ministry itself has admitted in its report that consumer sentiments and demand are faltering, especially in cities. Still, the country’s leaders are busy spreading the narrative of seven percent growth rate and developed India. They are self-obsessed with the prosperity of a very small section of society. So let us pray to Goddess Lakshmi today to give wisdom to our rulers and elite classes. Tell them that prosperity cannot be sustainable if it is not shared among all.