Puttaparthi (Anantapur district), April 23: Waiting anxiously for the one odd customer has become a routine for shopkeepers on the thoroughfares of Puttaparthi, ever since Sathya Sai Baba’s health deteriorated.
While Sai Baba is battling for his life at the Intensive Care Unit of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, 6 km from here, businessmen in this small town, which thrives mainly on tourists, have been grappling with poor, or in some cases, no business in the last few days.
“I have not sold a single item in the last three days. Business has come down completely as the number of devotees has also declined,” Sriram Subba Rao, who sells Sai Baba’s photographs, told The Hindu.
“Such a decline in business was not seen in the past, even when Baba was not in town,” he said.
Earlier, he claimed that he earned about Rs. 1,000 a day during these months. “My daily turnover is very low compared to previous summers.”
Similar is the fate of hundreds of small shops that crowd the narrow lanes and bylanes, and most shops wear a deserted look. Shopkeepers are found indulging in casual chat outside their shops, mostly revolving around Sai Baba’s health.
Roads are relatively free with fewer commuters, an unusual sight around Prashanthi Nilayam, the bustling ashram established by Sai Baba.
There are hardly any takers for autorickshaws, while a number of handicrafts stores have been closed temporarily in the light of declining number of tourists. Even street side vendors wait for their customers, who trickle in occasionally, and business has been very dull for the hotels.
“Many devotees have vanished since Sai Baba was admitted to the hospital,” a hotelier on Gopuram Street, who wished to remain anonymous said. Their only source of income comes from the devotees, who come to meet Sai Baba, he said. “While we normally prepare for about 150 people, there were only around 30 customers for lunch till yesterday. However, the number has gone up to 70 thanks to the huge presence of police personnel,” the hotelier added.
It is also a worrying time for those who have dabbled in the booming real estate in a big way. Land prices in the vicinity of Puttaparthi skyrocketed in recent years with many housing and hotel projects coming up. According to residents here, one cent of land, which was closer to the town was being sold at as high as Rs. 20 lakh, while a few km away from the nerve centre, the rate was around Rs. 1 lakh or even less.
“Many people have invested in the real estate sector to make a quick buck. These people are now anxiously waiting for the recovery of Sai Baba,” a source familiar with the sector said.
-Agencies