Shopping pilgrimage to Klang
Segamat family makes a beeline for Little India every year
KLANG: Every year for almost a decade, S. Radha Manohari and her family head to Jalan Tengku Kelana here from Segamat at around this period.
No prizes for guessing why – the family’s Deepavali shopping is always done at Klang’s famous Little India area.
Radha Manohari, 23, who works in her father’s transportation company, said the variety of traditional Indian clothing in the area was impressive.
“And one more thing ... the prices are much cheaper in Klang than anywhere else,” she said when met at a textile shop here.
Radha Manohari, who tried on several outfits with her sister Sangeetha, 19, said each family member would get a set for Deepavali.
“We bought 13 sets to be distributed to all members of the family,” she said, adding that besides her parents, her six siblings and herself, there was stuff for her two brothers-in-law, a sister-in-law and a nephew.
Gayathiri Silk Sarees Palace director Datin Maheswary Ramasamy said her shop was filled with many outstation shoppers daily during the festive season.
She said the shalwar kameez suits for women and matching shirt with dhoti for men were popular items. Another was the four-piece suit. “The top can be used with pants to be a Punjabi suit or with a skirt to be a lengha,” she said.
Maheswary said her store was having a promotion to encourage the young to wear traditional clothing for the festive season.
“We gave free sarees to girls aged between 18 and 23 during the whole of September,” she added.
Little India in Jalan Tengku Kelana was thronged with shoppers, many of whom came from other states in chartered buses.
This is usual for the week before Deepavali, when prices are slashed to clear stock.