It’s shopping time for Diwali at Bangalore!

This is the season to go shop-happy and the whole of Bangalore is out there on a spree. The brightly festooned streets are packed with shoppers laden with bags of booty and sporting smiles of satisfaction in bagging a good bargain. The credo seems to be, 'work hard, shop harder.'
While it's a bounty of electronic gadgets for the youth, the upwardly mobile are zeroing in on the latest models of cars and bikes. While those who have saved up for a new home are sealing dream deals over the festival of lights, there are others who are gifting their families a new makeover for their home with unique colour schemes and textures.

For women, jewellery, home appliances, clothes and fashion accessories seem to tug their purse-strings.

Young entrepreneurs Swati and Rajesh Bakshi are shopping for a mixed bag of mutual funds, furniture and jewellery. "I believe in buying something with the future in mind, too," says Swati, a mother of two toddlers.

High on theatre person Pathy Aiyar's list is glamorous lighting fixtures and a plasma television for his home. "Though I'm not gifting my wife any jewellery, she will be doing her bling thing on her own," he says.

Techie Ashish Majumdar, a gizmo buff, had been saving up his urge to splurge for Diwali. "I'm gifting myself a nifty i-book on Dhanteras. It comes with a built-in web camera and other sinfully tempting features that had me drooling over it since I saw it," he says with a grin. His room-mate Ashutosh Naik an amateur photographer is settling for a sleek camera costing a whopping Rs 3 lakhs after his company awarded him a handsome raise.

While shoppers have their own reasons for buying the things they want, it is definitely the season to splurge and be merry in the spirit of shopping.

Streets brightly lit up, roads filled with shoppers, and offers flooding the market - all these mark the arrival of another Diwali in Bangalore. With traders gearing up from the first of November itself, the shopping frenzy reached an all-time high last week itself. Many retailers have come out with special offers and discounts on clothes, consumer durables, automobiles, and jewellery, for the festival.

Clothing stores are having offers of discounts, lucky draws with gift vouchers, and some even giving out movie tickets.

Stores selling consumer durables are giving discounts, have exchange offers, and even some combo offers. These interesting combo offers are pulling in a lot of customers. You can buy a television set with a satellite connection for a price that is lower than the combined price, for example.

Automobile companies are offering holiday packages and other goodies with the purchase of every vehicle. There are finance packages too. Some are offering gifts with every purchase. Gift cheques with every purchase and exchange bonuses are also on for the season.

Diwali is an auspicious time to buy jewellery and this year like the last, has seen jewellery stores around town coming out with interesting offers. Discounts, gifts, and special offers on jewelry make it even more attractive to buy gold during the festive season.
Sohail Yusuf, Secretary, B r i g a d e Road Shop and Establ i s h m e n t Association (BSEA) says, "People usually pick up clothes, toys, electronics, and shoes. Since they come with their families, they shop for a range of things. This year the shopping has been good. Three days before Diwali it picks up, peaks, and then is back to normal."

Other shopping destinations like Commercial Street are also gearing up for the shopping frenzy with some ideas the same as last year's and some a little different. Nauman Razak, President of the Commercial Street Shop and Establishment Association says, "On sale is a product mix which is versatile. You have a huge range from sarees, jewellery, software, to hardware for homes. You can get all-season clothes, whether it is for a wedding, diwali or any other festival."
So, go shopping this Diwali with offers that are tailor-made for you.