Holi revellers stock up on water cannons, sweets

MUMBAI: The spring festival of Holi gets off to a start with Holika Dahan on Sunday. Small Holi bazaars have sprung up at every nook and corner selling gulal, water cannons or pichkaris and sweets.
Typically, big and small markets from Crawford Market to Masjid, Andheri and Jogeshwari, are flooded with Chinese pichkaris that come in a variety of models and colours."Those that are most popular with children are designed with Angry Birds stickers and shapes. We also have a Chhota Bheem range," says Pravin Chheda of Shah Mepsi Narshi store in Lower Parel.
Parents prefer to shop for pichkaris just a day or two before the festival. "Children get very excited with the idea of splashing water on other people and so they fiddle with the contraption all day. Because it is made of plastic, it tends to break sometimes. Then parents have to buy them a new piece lest the child feel deprived while his friends enjoy. They would rather avoid the double cost and buy the water cannon closer to Holi. We have sold 20-30% of our stock but we are expecting that 70% will sell on Sunday," says Chheda.
The Angry Birds pichkari with a one-litre water tank sells for Rs 350 but lesser varieties do come for as little as Rs 40-70. High-end air pressure guns, spy guns with a sharp look of minimalistic steel and elongated pichkaris whose nozzle spans 8-15 cm are also finding favour this season. Some manufacturers are offering double-barrelled pichkaris with a 2-litre tank and pump tanks that can carry up to 1.5 litre water. These seem to be more suited to older revellers.
Chheda, who has been in the business of festival items since 30 years, says Holi stands out for people's growing awareness of eco-friendly colour. Now every buyer comes with a demand for non-toxic gulal and various brands are catering to this need. Alert to consumer psychology, vendors who sell non-branded pouches of gulal by the roadside also claim that these colours are eco-friendly. Customers can scarcely tell the difference. But a few are aware that natural extracts are usually pale in colour and emit a natural scent unlike the artificially perfumed gulal that passes off as organic.
Shopping for Holi sweets is an important task during the festival. Pradeep Jain, secretary of the Shree Mumbai Mishthan Mandal, says, "North Indians enjoy gujiya which is made by filling dry fruit and mawa inside a coat of maida. The crescent-shaped sweet is deep fried and then dipped in sugar syrup for a few minutes before being laid out to serve. Mawa samosas are also prepared in similar fashion. Maharashtrians make a similar sweet named chandrakala as well as karanji, which is prepared with wet or dry coconut, khus khus and raisins." Jain says most people know of bhaang and thandai, but Holi is also about kanjivada which is prepared with spicy water and is a good digestive.
In Chembur, Sindhi sweetmeat store Jhama opened its counter for 'gear' ('ghevar') a week ago. "The large jalebi sprinkled with varq and dry fruit spans around six inches. 'Gear' finds great demand among Sindhis and Punjabis. People buy large quantities since it is a perfect gift as well. They often send packages to the house of married daughters," says the co-owner of the store, Ravi Lulla.