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Desi crackers take shine off Chinese sparklers

Sadar Bazaar
Last Updated 20 October 2014, 14:07 IST

A jostling crowd in the congested lanes and bylanes leave hardly any space to walk. Still, if you manage to walk along with the crowd, after getting accustomed to the constant nudging and pushing, you won’t get a chance to breathe easy. A cloud of dust, due to the freshly dug-up roads, adds to your ordeal. Such is the scenario at Chandni Chowk.

The hustle-bustle of the normal days is no longer a scene here, there is frenetic energy and urgency as the festival of lights is round the corner.

From Sadar Bazaar where people are hopping from one shop to another to get the best deals in crackers to Khari Baoli’s dry fruit and spice market and Bhagirath Palace, half-a-kilometre away from Red Fort, which is the wholesale market of fairy lights, Chandni Chowk, the oldest wholesale market in the city, is a picture of vibrant, feel-good chaos.
In Sadar Bazaar, shop owners are optimistic about good sales of crackers this year.

Considering the heavy flow of customers over the weekend, expectations are peaking as only two days are left for the festival of lights, and some would ruefully add ‘noise’.
“The sale has started on a good note. Hopefully, within the next two days, it will pick up,” says Narendra Gupta, president, Fireworks and General Traders Welfare Association. The ban on Chinese crackers, this year, undoubtedly has added to the confidence of shop owners. “You won’t get Chinese items in any of the shops. It is illegal. There is a complete ban on its import,” says Gupta.

Therefore, shops are selling crackers manufactured by Indian companies, which is very similar to popular Chinese items. “Chinese magic pops are very popular. It is sold as Tikiyas (tablets). Throw small bullet on the ground with force and it will burst into colourful fire. But they are dangerous too. So, Indian manufacturers have introduced Colour Golis,” says Dharmaveer, a shop owner.

The ‘most selling items’ at his shop are multicoloured sparklers, Rang Barud – a circular anar which emits colourful firework, the chakris emitting 18 colours at a time and the Nazi bomb.

Price rise, undoubtedly, is turning off people. “There has been a 10 per cent increase in the price. Rang Barud which was sold at Rs 230 last year is now priced between Rs 240-250. Likewise, a pack of chakri is Rs 190-200 and one pack of sparklers costs around Rs 35-50,” says Dharamveer.

Kuldeep, a shopkeeper, also a Shehnai player says, “People don’t want to spend much. Purchase of crackers per person has decreased over the years. Many people are buying unsafe crackers from small shops.”

Therefore, in order to ensure that people don’t buy unsafe crackers, the cracker association is making an announcement every 10 minutes about the ban on Chinese crackers, prohibition on smoking in the area and safety and security while playing with crackers.

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(Published 20 October 2014, 14:05 IST)

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