Daily Times

KARACHI: Eid is imminent and its preparations are on peak. With the arrival of Eid, since there is cheerfulness everywhere, the market and Bazaars are getting crowded day by day. The sellers and the shopkeepers especially bangles vendors have decorated their shops and handcarts respectively, in order to fetch more and more customers.

Vivacious, colorful, glittering and clinking glass bangles, women in our home land wear these not just to match with their clothes, also to show that their husbands are with them.

Bangles are a special customary ornament worn by women in the East. It is one of the most common jewellery item worn by all females of all ages, whatever the value or custom, bangles are a passion with most females and they do no miss any opportunity to adorn their arms with bangles in matching colors on every occasion like weddings and Eid festivals.

In this current era various types of bangles are available in the market, in different colors, designs and shapes, made from different materials. Of course, the most long-lasting and costly gold bangles which have their own elegance and charm, and the least durable are the glass bangles.

Glass bangles coated with glitter and with ghungroo hanging to them are mostly liked by young girls. But in the recent era rubber bangles are worn more like a wristband by youngsters while the plastic ones are there to add a trendy look.

“Females want funky jewellery and glass bangles are the essence of liveliness and culture, on the other hand the youngers see it in different way. They go for casual stuff, they don’t like commotion and such clinking stuff,” said Hamza a shopkeeper

“I like glass bangles and their clinking ; my Eid is incomplete without them but my daughter, Hafsa prefers bracelets as she finds the bangles too delicate” said Shazia a house wife.

I used to go to the bazaar on chand rat to bazaar only for buying bangles with my husband but now over crowd ness is more so I buy the bangles before chand rat, she added

One of aged woman told that their daughters like plastic and rubber bangles even if they are funky, colorful and glittered because They wear easily and taking them off and putting them on again during housework such as cooking, washing dishes or dusting isn’t practicable, so I have just stopped wearing them altogether.

“Thanks to Indian movies and plays, some customers come and ask for Indian-style bangles,” said Farhan a bangle seller

Although they are made locally but give the look as Indian actress wear, a set which is priced at Rs950 and we do bargains. We start with Rs950 and may go down to Rs650″ he said.

Mohammad Danish, who runs a big glass bangles shop at Tariq Road had agreed that their customers had dropped to almost 50 per cent in the last few years. Because the Chinese products are too much inn and they do lot of creativity for Eid in bangles. They make such crystal plastic bangles which look like glass bangles and are very attractive and even cheap.

The demand of color is up to their choice as last year navy blue color was on high demand and for Eid, this year, margenda seems like a popular color.”

“The glass bangles industry for is in Hyderabad we get them at wholesale rates from Liaquatabad, where all the new styles and stocks arrive first straight from Hyderabad” said bangles vendor

He elucidated that they only take plane bangles from Hyedrabad now and design them here in Karachi it becomes cheaper and putting names on bangles are very common for gifts its costly work but people like it.

Name on bangles range from Rs 800 to Rs 1200 per set and it takes time to be designed. In Karachi they also have a small set-up now for producing and designing bangles, he added

Imran Rajpoot a blogger from Hyderabad told Daily Times that Hyderabad has the perfect weather for bangle production, making it the hub for the bangles craft in the country. Even bangles industry is shutting down here. Approximately, 30 glass-bangle manufacturing units are situated across the city; many of them have shifted their set ups in Karachi now.

Moreover he reviled according to Bangles Union Hyedrabad , 3 hundred thousand people are associated with the manufacturing, trading, packaging and transportation of this industry, including men, women and children in equal numbers.