Source: Afternoon Dispatch
MUMBAI, INDIA, August 23, 2001: Celebrating Ganesha’s birthday with pomp and gaiety has always meant prosperity for merchants in the city. While this still holds true for those shopkeepers selling puja accessories such as flowers, incense sticks, coconuts, fruits, Ganesha murthis, and the ever popular modaka (a round sweet made from rice, coconut, and sugar), other merchants are suffering. Traditionally, Ganesha’s auspicious days marked a time when families also purchased gold jewelry, saris and new clothes for the children. However in the last eight years, these sales have declined. The owner of J.D. Jewelers is quoted as saying, “For some years now people have stopped buying anything more than a small ring for Ganapati.”