Anna Hazare wave has flag sellers in Kovai raking in the moolah

COIMBATORE: The anticorruption wave that swept across the country including Coimbatore has set the cash registers jingling at outlets selling national flags, anti-corruption posters, tricolour badges and Anna Hazare caps. The patriotic fervour that gripped the nation helped flagmakers and sellers rake in unexpected profits.

About one lakh national flags, including miniature straw tricolours,were dispatched to various parts of the state as the agitation gained momentum all over. The flag-making units were shaken out of the lull that usually comes post Independence Day celebrations.

"Our organisation alone ordered more than 1,000 flags from the city shops and also distributed close to 6,000 anti-corruption badges and other accessories during the mass movement in Coimbatore. We are proud that we were part of a national uprising and did our part to re-instil a sense of patriotism in people," said Rajkumar Velu, director, Fifth Pillar, Coimbatore.

According to major flag sellers in the city, there was a huge demand for miniature plastic flags and badges over the last two weeks. Most of the units had to work over time to meet the orders generated by the protests.

"Apart from one lakh flag pieces, about 10,000 tricolour badges and anti-corruption patches were also sold here in the city. We have not had such brisk sales during any other protest in recent times. The number of youngsters involved in the protest was also huge. Since there were multiple protests in the city, the sale also went up," said B Jeyakumar, a flag seller in the city.

The iconic Gandhi cap, brought back into vogue by Anna Hazare and company, also recorded high sales in the city. As many as 1,000 such caps were sold here during the protest.

Ironically, the Khadi outlets failed to cash in on the Anna Hazare wave. Only about 200 khadi caps were sold in these stores. There are three major khadi retail outlets in the
city at Town Hall, Gandhipuram and Avarampalayam.

"We sold only about 100 caps from our store during the last week. It was from the Independence Day celebration stock," said Jebamalai Cruz, manager Sarvodaya Khadi store, town hall.