BHUBANESWAR: With Raja, one of the major festivals in Odisha slated to begin from Monday, people are banking on online shopping to make up for the loss of physically buying things in the markets given the lockdown and weekend shutdown.
And several online portals and local e-commerce platforms have stepped forward to fill that vacuum, offering a wide-variety of gift hampers for home delivery during Raja.
Covid-9 has changed everything and also the way we celebrated festivals.
The deadly second wave has made the situation worse with rise in infections and deaths.
It has become necessary to stay indoors, follow the lockdown, and maintain social distancing and other Covid protocols.
In such a situation the best option for festive shopping seems like buying online.
“Since it is the first Raja festival for our daughter after marriage, as per custom we have to send a gift hamper full of fruits, pitha (cakes), sweets and new clothes.
But due to lockdown we decided to do the shopping online and to my surprise everything is available on the web.
And the best thing about it is that there is no fear of catching the infection by stepping outside,” said Subhadra Swain, resident of Saheed Nagar.
The gift hampers known as Raja Bhara include different types of fruits, traditional cakes including poda pitha, manda, kakara, arisa, khaja, gaja, labangalata, laddu and so on.
Moreover, the local traders making online delivery are including paan, as it is a custom to eat one during Raja.
The price of online gift hampers starts from Rs 500.
“We have Raja gift hampers but people can customise by adding items of their choice.
Many people are opting for ragi cakes while others are adding bakery items and chocolates to wish their near and dear ones,” said Anand Mishra, founder of Grozip, a grocery delivery site.
Similarly, Groveg.in, another online delivery platform, has come up with Raja Bhara starting from Rs 555.
Started by two software engineers Asit and Deepankar, the platform is taking orders online and ensuring delivery within 24 hours.
Their hampers included a wide range of Odia delicacies, fruits, sweets and paan.
“During this pandemic we could engage five persons as delivery boys.
We have also decided to donate our profit to an orphanage,” said Asit.
The online Raja Bhara facility has been a big relief for working women, who are tied up with work from home and household chores.
“We have been buying clothes online for a while now and if during festivals we buy from local shops it is like supporting the #localforvocal campaign,” said Lipsa Nayak, a call centre employee.
The MoBhai app that made brisk business by supplying gift hampers during Sabitri Brata is also into delivering Raja Bhara.
“We have started receiving orders.
Our hampers start from Rs 500 and go up to Rs 3000 depending on the items they include,” said Jyoti Ranjan Sahoo, the young entrepreneur.