Fashion for the forehead: How bindi makers are making a mark

Bindi manufacturers say business is sparkling. Paresh Gada, whose Mumbai unit manufactures bindis under the Tanvi brand, says women are forking out more money per bindi than ever before. “When my father set up the company in 1991, people said we were mad to build a business on just bindis,” he says. “Today, some women will spend Rs 2,000 on our products at one go.” His store near Crawford Market has boxes stacked floor-to-ceiling, each holding 56 bindi packs, offering more than 1,000 designs. Regular bindi wearers, however, will doubtless have noticed that their ranks are shrinking. In Westernising towns and cities, fewer women use them to accessorise a kurta or sari. A bare forehead is more common than a dotted one. Local brands like Tanvi are finding it impossible scale up. So which side is winning the bindi battle?