City of sound & fury

Bag?“, “At least polythene?“ the man in one corner of the Garia baaji bazaar arched his eyebrows in surprise. Once the fashionable office bag was flung open, he dropped his guard and stuffed it with chocolates -of a not-so sweet variety. Forget Champahati and Nungi, chocolate bombs, its high-decibel brother, dodoma, and several other cousins are selling in most Kolkata markets.You just need to head the right direction, as CT found out on a buying spree the night of Dhanteras.
But it wasn't as easy as walking into the supermarket and buying toothpaste. On Monday , a cop had picked up two vendors for selling banned crackers. So, everyone at the Garia market had their lips sealed -letting their hands do the talking. They are selling chocolate bombs still, but only on the basis of trust, which cannot be breached under any circumstance.
Inputs by Atanu Biswas & Satwik Paul An hour's wait later, the vendor we were in talks with, sold a pack et of 100 chocolate bombs for a measly '150. “We have sold many more, each packet for '250 till the crackdown happened,“ he said, adding that he himself had sourced the packets for '90 from Champahati. “Better qual ity stuff is being made in Nungi, but cops are very alert in that area. It's easier to bring chocolates from Champahati,“ he owned up, lamenting the untimely death of Burimar chocolate bombs, Dulal and Mahavir, which were a hit with Kolkata before the administration put a ban on firecrackers producing sound exceeding 90 decibels.“Now, locals make chocolate bombs and pass them off as Dulal,“ he added.
The steal over, it was time to head to New Town, where chocolate bombs were selling in most shops that had spawned overnight. A vendor, who prom ised to provide many packets of the banned baaji if the other, more easily available, varieties of firecrackers were bought along with it, opened up once his trust was won. He had stocked up his stuff in a shack just yards from the shop and a stone's throw from the 'old thana', days in advance. A pack et of 80, for which he asked for '400, was finally bought with '80. Five other packets of Prabal chocolates were bought for '50 each. “I bought 80 choco lates for '34 and sold the pack ets for '400. This year, the sale is low because of police vigilance. The chocolate bombs have come from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, while other firecrackers are from Kanchrapara.Though there's a proper distribution channel in place, for '500 profit, one has to pay a bribe of '100 to you know who,“ he said, adding with an impish smile, “Won't you take a snap?“ Call it a golden triangle (topographically), a dazzling one at that, it so emerged that a handful of residents at a housing complex in Ultadanga were selling chocolate bombs, dodomas, cells and jol bombs, for 'pleasure'. Said a resident, “We are bringing the stocks from Narayanpur in Nilganj, Barasat.It's easier to source it from that region. In fact, most areas in north east Kolkata get their stocks from Barasat.“ Having sold five packets of Rolex chocolate bombs for '50 each and 20 jol bombs for '50, he told us with a smile, “We have bought this from a middleman for '30 each packet. Dodomas that we sourced were sold as soon as they were brought in. We bought the jol bombs for '2 each and sold them at '5.“ The makeshift stalls in Ultadanga also have a huge collection of dodomas and chocolates. A pack of five dodomas cost '30 and they are flying off the racks late at night. “The stocks are unlimited,“ said a vendor, adding, “The offer is open even a day after Diwali.“ If Kolkata's verdict is anything to go by, it's going to be one helluva noisy Diwali today .