The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Dazzling variety of crackers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 08, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Dazzling variety of crackers

Staff Reporter

Men, women and children had all shapes and types to choose from

– Photo: K. Gopinathan

Brisk sale: People buying crackers on the eve of Deepavali in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: As far as cracker variety goes, Bangaloreans seem to be spoilt for choice. On a cracker buying spree on the eve of Deepavali, the men, women and children had all the sizes, shapes and types to choose from.

While the children went for crackers with fancy names and drawings, parents were found having a final say. “I know what to buy for you,” said a parent as he looked at the variety his son had picked.

There were a lot of new varieties of flower pots, rockets, chakkars and sparklers being offered at the stalls. But the sellers could offer nothing much as advice on the choice of the right cracker.

The flowerpot variety was all about “Gudiyas” and “Jades”, tricolours and more. The “Gudiya” variety was to indicate that it was meant for children. A packet of 10 “Gudiya” flower pots was priced at Rs. 910. “Jade”, another variety of flower pot, looked similar to a big toffee and was neatly arranged in a packet of five, which was priced at Rs. 360. There were other flowerpots such as “tricolour” fountain, “colour flowers” and “flower pot green” indicating the colours of light that would emanate from them.

Fancy names were seen on the rocket packs too. The “Missile” rocket had a small missile-like object on the top and it was sold in a packet of two priced at Rs. 720. There were “Lunar” rockets, “Rohini” Rockets, “Silver Jet” rockets and the popular “whistling” rockets.

The prominent variety seen in the stalls were the sky shots — a long single cracker that emits fire balls in varied colours, patters and designs. Accordingly, names were given such as “Good Nights”, “China Beauty”, “Summer Shine”, “Blue Comet”, “Dog Fight” “Arabian Nights” and “Royal Salute”. The sky shots meant for adults were sold at a premium starting from Rs. 920 to Rs. 1,524.

There were the usual variety in bombs such as “Sumo”, “Hydrogen”, “Bazi” and “Cake”. Packets containing 100 crackers priced at Rs. 80 were sold in great numbers. The toy guns and roller crackers of different sizes were in demand.

The long agarbattis for lighting crackers from a distance, with fancy covering, were sold in a set of three for Rs. 10.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka