Last minute rush as people make Easter purchases

 Across Kerala, on Saturday, more people were spotted in front of shops and this was on account of Sunday being Easter day as people were engaged in buying specific things like chicken and meat.

The most crowded shops were selling meat and chicken, with many preferring to forego fish, after reports surfaced that over 50,000 tonnes of stale fish was seized in the past one week in the state.

At the central district in Kottayam, the police had to cane people to control the crowd. At another place people refused to hear to the warnings of the police to maintain social distancing, and the queue to buy chicken was a kilometre long.

Prices have also skyrocketed due to high demand and chicken is selling above Rs 150 a kilogram, while a kilogram of beef is around Rs 350.

Christians in Kerala for the first time in their lives have experienced such a 'passion week' (starting from Palm Sunday on April 5 till Sunday April 12) on account of the three week nationwide lockdown due to corona pandemic.

The Church during these days was a place where all the rituals associated with the passion week took place behind the closed doors with just the priest and his associates engaged in the rituals.

Though Easter Sunday mass is also there, on any normal Easter day, more 'action' takes place at homes, especially at the dining hall, where it's a feast spread over breakfast and the lunch and hence the last minute rush, as all shops close at 5 p.m. IANS