HEARTS HAVE changed, moods have mellowed, protests have turned proactive and to cap it all, the sale of Gandhi topi at Gandhi Ashram has gone up manifold. And the credit for all this goes to Munnabhai, the champion of Gandhigiri.
It might have done a lot of good so far, but the impact that Gandhigiri has made on the sale of Gandhi topi and white kurta-pyjama at Gandhi Ashram is phenomenal and the most obvious one. The various Gandhi Ashram centres have started getting bulk orders for these. In the last two months, we have sold over 4,000 caps and 500 sets of white kurta-pyjama. The sale of these items was never so good. We were surprised when all of a sudden the demand for these caps and garments started going up. But gradually, when Gandhigiri became all the more popular, we got to know the reason about the rise in sale of these items. Gandhi Ashram has got the punch back since the time Lage Raho Munna Bhai hit the theatres, said Raja Ram Maurya from Gandhi Ashram, Hazratganj Branch.
Earlier, we could sell only about 200-300 caps a month and about 100 sets of kurta-pyjama. Also, the sale of these goods is not confined to one or two Gandhi Ashram branches in the city but to all the 20 branches. All branches are doing well as far as sale of topi and kurta-pyjama is concerned, added Maurya.
Another elderly official at the Hazratganj branch says, It was always our regular customers who used to come and buy these caps and garments and most of them are elderly. But recently, it is the younger crowd that is buying these caps. He further says, Once, out of curiosity, I asked a young customer why he was buying the cap and he said he wanted to dress up the Gandhinian way to get his work done!
Vijay Tripathi of the Aminabad Branch of Gandhi Ashram said, The sale of topi and kurta-pyjama has obviously gone up. Whenever people plan a protest they come to us for topis and give us bulk orders. People also come and buy one or two caps. It seems that the young people are really fascinated by these topis.
The caps are priced at Rs 20 or Rs 30 each depending on their size while the kurta-pyjama is priced from Rs 380-750 for a set.
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