Watch fish for stress and BP

It is a thrilling experience to the children, no doubt. But it has now become a pastime for the elders too, “Now many lonely elderly people prefer to have an aquarium at home to kill their time. We forget time and tensions and stress takes backseat for a while at least,” says a popular aquarium operator of Hyderabad Rajasam Sankla.

Aquariums have become the latest fad in households as they are believed to drive away evil eye and provide enchanting look to interiors. And sitting quietly watching at the tiny fish moving all over all the time is like a meditation session indeed. New beliefs are being cultivated by people who think having a gold fish brings good luck to house and also its owners, particularly the girl child.

“We sell a lot of varieties such as Aravana, flowerana, gold fish, kissing govani, sucker cat, angels, black ghost, Oscars,” Rajasam says. He operates a chain of aquariums.

In recent times, many shops have sprung up all over Telagnana towns of Warangal, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad and Hanamkonda and on an average each shop does a business of Rs. 1 lakh per month which indicates the growing patronage to aquariums. They sell a wide range of products that would really turn the aquariums into a coral reef at home. The fish bowls range from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 depending on size, and then there are stones of different colours, water filter and air pumps and finally the fancy fish.

These aquarium shops also sell ‘love birds, cocktails, and rabbits, lucky plants’ a bunch of small bamboo plants stuck in a small bowl of water. “Apart from love for pets, there is Vaastu angle to our business. This Vaastu angle is very important for us as it increases our sales,” he says.