Ahmedabad, Sept 30: Perhaps it's for the first time that a condom company has sponsored some garba events, albeit under the garb of a social message. A leading condom company has put up social messages of safe sex at a big garba venue in Ahmedabad.
Such tactics are not without reason. The aggressive marketing is only logical if one considers the fact that there is a marked jump in the sales of condoms and contraceptives during the nine nights of revelry.

According to a rough estimate, the sale of condoms shoots up at least by 20-25 per cent. Also, if those in the business are to be believed, the sales of oral contraceptives goes up four to five times. While puritans have been crying hoarse over the prevalent promiscuity, the sales graph of contraceptives is touching newer heights every year.

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Chemists and druggists admit that this time of the year spells good business. "The sale of condoms shoots up by at least 20-25 per cent during these days," says Jasubhai Patel, president of The Federation of Gujarat State Chemists and Druggists. Patel, who is also a whole sale dealer of drugs. "We know why," smiles Patel.

"There is nothing new about the phenomenon — the sale of contraceptives, heavy rush in hotels etc. But what is shocking is the fact that very few people are really concerned about the long-term implications of it.

For instance, if a young couple comes seeking a room at a hotel, the hotel owners should discourage them without bothering about the profits. But unfortunately, very few would do that. We should not forget that everyone has a social responsibility," says education minister Anandiben Patel, who pointed out three years back to the rise in the number of abortions after Navratri.

Patel, however, believes that it's the responsibility of parents to keep a watch on what their children are doing during the festival. Rajendra Patel, president of Ahmedabad Chemist Association, however, believes that the sale of contraceptive medicines is much higher than that of condoms. "The sale of contraceptive tablets multiplies four times our normal average," says Patel, who also runs a number of retail outlets across the city.

However, according to him it would be improper to gauge the degree of promiscuity by the sale of tablets. "There are number of other reasons behind the increase in the sales of these tablets," he says. In Vadodara, with major garba venues only starting to pick up after the showers, most chemists in the city say they have not seen a substantial increase in condom sales yet. But they are ready for a 10 to 20 per cent increase in the coming days.

"In this age and time, condom sales are not the only indicator of the mood of the youngsters," says Rishikesh Mehta a chemist on Old Padra road. "Many of them have started using oral contraception. There is a perceptible change in sale of tablets like Mala-D and Ovral as well with companies encouraging chemists to sell them over the counter."

And it is not the condoms and tablets that they are stocking up on. Experience has taught them to expect a boom in sale of pregnancy termination pills, soon after Navratri. "Over the last 10 years, I have found an increase in demand for ayurvedic preparations for termination of pregnancy around Navratri. Some girls also buy MTP medicines.

We do keep the normal stock as we get a higher margin on these pills," says Sheetal Parikh of Sheetal Medicals in Ellora Park.