KARACHI: The long-awaited German Winter Market, organised by the German Consulate General Karachi, which was initially to open on Sunday, had to be pushed forward by a day to Monday because of the weather situation but the wait was worth it.

Formerly known as the Christmas Market, the annual event, which saw a break of a few years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is now back in all its glory. From handicraft, apparel, silver and imitation jewellery, toys, candles, decoration pieces to lozenges and balm, food and snacks, children’s activity, there was a stall for everything spread on a plot next to the German Consulate and a portion of the road leading to it.

The handicrafts, including pretty cotton hand block printed stitched and un-stitched cotton ghararas, crinkle dupatta and shirt suits, sari, bags, sandals and jewellery were to die for. And they were not too costly even. “We are selling at wholesale prices,” said the lady at the Behbud Association stall.

Other stalls by organisations such as Doch Pvt Ltd, Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC), the Women Chamber Korangi Crafts, Ladies Fund, Culture Department of the Government of Balochistan, Sindh Culture Department, were also worth visiting.

The event returns to the city after Covid days

T-shirts were being sold at Rs600 each and trousers at Rs1,000 each at the GIA International Exports stall. The business owner had named his company by putting together the initials of each of his daughters’ first name. The stall offered sizes which seemed far too big. “Because we are catering to the foreign market. Our large size is their medium size,” said the person minding the stall.

Though the pretty cotton and linen clothes at Inclusiveitee Apparel were a bit on the expensive side, but they were very well tailored and tastefully designed unisex clothes. There were bush shirts, safari suits, vests and waistcoats. And Aisha Latif, the young saleslady at the stall was also thoughtful enough to also place a full length mirror in one corner near the entrance to check out one’s appearance after trying on the clothes.

The trinkets, prayer beads, hand-crafted silver jewellery with natural stones and coffee table tops at Womenza and Nuqrah were also beckoning gathering customers. To add to one’s knowledge, it was explained by the sweet lady at Nuqrah that the word ‘nuqrah’ meant silver in Persian.

Victory Enterprises had quilt filled travelling prayer mats that were generating a lot of attention from customers. Priced at only Rs1,000 or Rs1,100, they were very much appreciated, too.

Young customers were also not ignored. There was a jumping castle in a nice and roomy blue-carpeted enclosure for the little visitors to the market but the kids were more interested in drawing and painting activities instead of doing jumping jacks. A stall next to the enclosure was selling the best colour pencils by Faber Castell.

Another by Ziqi Toys had the cutest plush and warming toys manufactured with care as per European safety standards. A huge white bear, bigger than even actual bears beckoned to be hugged. But learning of its price at Rs65,000 one thought of rather keeping a distance. Still, the stall also had smaller Rs10,000 and Rs1,500 stuffed toys.

Jugnu Candles selling scented candles had the perfect name reminding one of fireflies. Metal Bling had the most beautiful handcrafted, hand-embossed wooden boxes that gave an antique look after being covered by tin foil. Ghazal Pirzada’s Creative Studios had the most exquisite print scarves, shirts, bags and stationary items.

More stalls at the market catered to the foodies. There were stalls selling homemade snacks, sweets and savoury stuff. More well-known of these included Costa Coffee, Chatpatay, Springs Cafe, Arabis & Snow Cones and Schwarzbackerei, an authentic German baking outlet.

Earlier, German Consul General Dr Rudiger Lotz opened the market. The Winter Market also included two exciting lucky draws to give away gift vouchers and bumper prizes that included an air ticket to Germany, an LED TV, a food processor, washing machine, microwave, dinner set, etc. The Goethe-Institut Karachi also had its worthy presence at the Market.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2024