This is the season for joy and happiness, the season to let go of all the tensions and worries that have bedeviled this year. The virus that crossed international borders brought with it sickness and death. The run up to Christmas is usually marked by the announcement of great deals on offer and a flurry of shopping. People also visit those traditional outlets to buy the essentials. The Christmas pastries, the cakes, the decorations or check with various entertainers or bands who are available and book them possibly for the grand party being planned. This year however, as the young and hip would like to say “the vibe is just not there.”
Denzil Fernandes said his regular clients were placing orders for cakes and pastries but the business had still not settled he said after the lockdown had been lifted. He said “Consumption of Christmas sweets will take place as usual. It is the custom to distribute sweets to neighbors and friends. This happened during Diwali and it will happen during Christmas. Even then there will be a drop I predict in the overall business this year. Last year we had so much of business, I could not cope. Let me put it this way, if last year we sold 1000 boxes this year we will sell 60% of that. A lot of people are staying at home and many of them are baking or cooking so that will certainly be another reason for the drop in business.”
Alison Kaimal who runs a patisserie near Panjim said due to the changes caused by Covid, they had experienced a reduction in wedding cake orders by almost 70 %. She said “However demand for bachelor and bachelorette cakes from tourists coming into Goa has stayed the same. Our Christmas hamper orders are also the same as last year, although I should mention it is the same client that has pre-ordered the Christmas hampers, as they do every year.”
Savio Travasso from the south said people were just not placing orders because they just did not have the money. He said “I have been in the business for seven years. The business has been reducing ever since demonitisation and now this year it has dropped 50 percent. We have not experienced any growth and now this drop. It is a sad state of affairs.”
Caterers have been hit hard too. John Fernandes from a catering business in the south said last year in the month of December he had catered 50 weddings and parties but this year he was doing just 25 and all of them very small affairs. He said “I can say yes, I have ordered but they are all very small fairs. The virus has dug a big hole for all of us.”
Jimmy Cotta a caterer from the south said this month he was doing just 2 of the 22 weddings for which he was hired. He said “The weddings have either been cancelled or postponed. Weddings with a guest list of 900 havenow been reduced to 150. Advances were paid and now there is no money in my hand because this is a rolling business. I have given options to them; some have agreed others are now getting into an argument. I don’t see this business improving till November next year”.
Music plays an an important role in the life of a Goan. Many bands cater to the tourists in various hotels or play in weddings or in shows. Victor Pereira member of a band said this December looked very depressing in terms of bookings. He said “Last December we had 22 shows and this year it has been reduced to 7 or 8. We have no wedding bookings or even enquiries now. The weddings we had have been shifted to next year. It is that kind of a December for us.”
Zubin da Cruz said last December they had around 35 gigs which included, weddings, parties, brunches but this year that number had dropped to half, and importantly clients were asking for a reduction in rates. He said “95% of the weddings have been postponed. We get clients from Dubai and UK and traveling was a problem”.
Owners of outlets dealing in decorations generally felt this year would be a forgettable one with one major outlet in Panjim going as far as to say they were not selling Christmas decorations because of the pandemic.
The general feeling is that this is a season for everyone to grit their teeth and go through it because that was the only way to endure it. The future they all felt would be way better after all.
