The late evening rains in Seremban town this past week have somewhat dampened the festive mood for Deepavali, which is on Oct 26.

S Vasantha, 47, bemoaned the situation, saying business was bad as the rains were keeping customers away.

“I sell traditional Deepavali attire and this is the first time I’ve rented a stall in Jalan Yam Tuan,” she said to Bernama.

“Customers used to place their Deepavali orders with me but I wanted to try out the bazaar this time,” said Vasantha who sold clothes through a home-based business for the past five years.

The 38-stall bazaar is located at Jalan Yam Tuan and Jalan Datuk Lee Fong Yee from Oct 18 to the eve of Deepavali.

The bazaar is organised by the MIC Youth Movement and Negri Sembilan Bell Youth Club in collaboration with the Seremban Municipal Council.

K Dhanaletchumy, 28, from Chennai, India has been helping her sister, who is married to a Malaysian, for the past eight years at her decorative items stall.

“Suppliers have increased their prices. I cannot sell the items as cheap as before. So most people just look at the things and the rains make it worse because there are fewer shoppers heading to the bazaar,” she said.

Another trader selling traditional Indian delicacies such as ‘murukku’ and ‘ladu’, S Gunaselan, 54, said suppliers have hiked up the cost of raw ingredients.

He has had to settle for less profits because he did not want to raise his prices too much.

- Bernama