Guwahati's lower middle class stretches to keep the festival bright
In the narrow lanes of Fancy Bazaar, where strings of fairy lights hang like glowing curtains from shopfronts and the smell of clay diyas mixes with the dust of a thousand footsteps, Diwali shopping is in full swing. So is the quiet arithmetic every household here is doing in its head.
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For Guwahati's lower middle class, the festival of lights has become a season of both joy and anxiety. Prices of decorations, electric lights and firecrackers have climbed, and the pressure to match the glow of the neighbourhood has not eased.
"Everything is so expensive"
Outside a lighting stall, one shopper balanced two bulging plastic bags and a list that kept growing. She did not hide her frustration.
"Everything is so expensive, starting from lights to Diwali decorations," she said. "But my kids want this and that, firecrackers and everything, so I'm here shopping for everything."
Her words capture a dilemma playing out in thousands of homes. Parents who earn modest, often fixed incomes, or who run small shops and work as daily-wage earners, are caught between the budget in their wallets and the wishes of children who see festive glamour on television and social media. Few want to be the reason a child's evening feels dimmer than a classmate's.
The cost of lighting a house
The scale of the expense becomes clear when one speaks to those who illuminate the city's homes. A local electrician in the Pan Bazar area said lighting up an average single or two-storey building in Guwahati now costs between ₹7,000 and ₹10,000.
That covers string lights, rope lights, wiring, holders and labour. For a family earning perhaps ₹20,000 to ₹40,000 a month, it is a significant bite, in a month that already includes clothes, sweets, puja items and travel to relatives.
Many try to economise by reusing last year's lights, but old strings often fail in storage, and replacing even part of a set adds up quickly.
"People think it is only about buying lights," the electrician said. "But there is wiring, there are switches and there is the labour. Everyone wants the house to look good, and nobody wants to be the dark one on the street."
Wholesale rates are up
Traders say the pressure begins earlier in the supply chain. A vendor in Fancy Bazaar said wholesale rates are higher than last year, with retailers paying about 10 to 20 percent more for the same kind of stock. The cost of doing business has gone up, he said.
Such an increase would normally squeeze margins and push shoppers toward smaller purchases. Yet this year, traders say, the extra cost is being absorbed because buyers feel they are getting more for their money. Newer designs, brighter LED options and longer-lasting products have given customers a sense of value even as price tags creep upward.
The pull of comparison
If rising prices are the practical problem, the emotional one is harder to measure. Across the city, the sight of brilliantly lit houses puts quiet pressure on those whose own homes are plainer.
Social media has sharpened this. Photographs of glittering facades and elaborate rangoli circulate on phones within minutes, setting a standard many feel compelled to meet. Children notice. A child who sees the neighbour's house wrapped in lights from rooftop to gate asks why theirs is not the same.
This fear of missing out can turn a celebration into a performance. For families on tight budgets, the result is often a decision to stretch finances rather than be seen to fall short. Some borrow from relatives or dip into savings meant for other needs. Others cut back elsewhere, skipping new clothes for themselves so the children can have what they want.
Firecrackers: a different dilemma
Firecrackers add another layer. Beyond the cost, parents worry about air quality, noise, safety and periodic restrictions on sales and use. Still, demand persists. Children want sparklers, flowerpots and rockets, and parents who would prefer to spend less often give in.
Some buy smaller packets or choose green varieties where available. Shopkeepers say customers increasingly ask for combination boxes, which promise variety at a lower per-unit cost.
Small ways of coping
Many families have found ways to keep the festival alive without breaking the bank. Some pool resources with neighbours to buy lights in bulk. Others turn to clay diyas, which cost far less than electric decorations and carry a cultural resonance no string light can match. Handmade rangoli, marigold garlands and homemade sweets stretch limited money while preserving the spirit of the occasion.
A few households light only the front of the house, concentrating the glow where it will be seen.
"Diwali is not about how many lights you have," one shopper said, picking through a tray of diyas. "But when your child asks, you want to give them something."
A festival of contradictions
As evening crowds thicken in Fancy Bazaar, the contradictions of this Diwali are plain. Traders speak of higher costs but steady sales. Shoppers complain of prices but keep filling their bags. Homes that can barely afford the expense will still glow, because the need to celebrate, and to be seen celebrating, runs deeper than any household ledger.
As the first lights flicker on across Guwahati's rooftops, the cost of each glowing bulb is counted not only in rupees, but in the small sacrifices made quietly, so that the children can have their Diwali.
