Kuppan still remembers the way Indira Gandhi used to accept and throw the garlands to the crowd, creating a mad frenzy. Today, shawls of cotton and silk have replaced garlands. For even the costliest garland, once worn, is useless. It is thrown away. A shawl, on the other hand, can be used and reused.
Some leaders accept shawls and, later on, present it to some other leader.
Politicians presenting shawls to other politicians is a recent phenomenon. KGB, which has a permanent rebate on their items, attracts many customers, especially for cotton shawls in the Rs 90-150 range. Then comes khadi silk and, lastly, wool. At Nalli too, sales have increased by 25 per cent after the elections were announced. Throughout the year, we have good sales of shawls but election time is different.