However, one year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came on television screens to declare illegal all existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 rupee note, the market has lost its sheen.
Till last year — before November 8, 2016, to be precise — the narrow alleys of old Delhi's Kinari Bazar used to be jam-packed during the wedding season.
The reason: the market also houses Delhi's biggest rupee note-garland market, and no north Indian wedding, especially in Delhi, is complete without the bridegroom adorning several of these garlands — the bigger the denomination and number of notes in the garland, the more affluent was the groom's family.
However, one year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came on television screens to declare illegal all existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 rupee note, the market has lost its sheen.
While the wedding season does see rush in some of the shops selling sequined laces, fancy garlands, decorative sheets and other stuff, the demand for 'noton ki mala' (garland of money) has ebbed considerably.
According to traders, demonetization, followed by "rumours" of police raids and checking, affected their business drastically. Unlike last year, only two shops in the market are displaying the money garlands.
"There is still fear among the traders. Only two shops, including ours, are making money garlands in the market that too mostly only on prior demand from customers," said Pawan Kumar Jain, owner of Prem Collection, a shop that deals with decorative stuff.
The new currency introduced by the RBI has not attracted the rich customers of Delhi. The demand of Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 50 notes garlands has still not "reduced". "We have not received any order of garland of new notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2000. Only a few orders of Rs 100 notes have come. This new trend has disturbed our finances and we are not able to make any profits," he said.
Jain recalled how over the period of time money garlands had became a quintessential part of groom's attire cutting across the religion and communities. "Initially, grooms from schedule castes and schedule tribes used to wear money garlands. Gradually, the trend was picked up bythose from upper caste and soon became a status symbol," he said, adding customers are now not willing to spend high denomination notes on garlands.
A few shops away, Anil Jain, the owner of Divya Palace, echoes the thought. "This is the worst season for money garland makers. They are not getting even one-third of what they used to earn. We have received less than10 orders in this entire wedding season," he said.
But, will things improve? "Who knows? I hope they do. But, since November 8, nothing is sure," he laments.
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