Modi pichkaris, a rage among people

Kanpur: With Holi festival round the corner, the city markets are flooded with `pichkaris' (sprinklers) of different varieties along with the masks and artificial hair colour. This time the rage is for the 'Modi' pichkaris and masks which have already flooded the markets. The BJP flag, bearing pickharis, are also readily available at Bisati Bazar in Meston Road area.The wholesalers said that Modi pichkaris and BJP flag water cannons, caps, colour sprinkling guns sold as a hot cake on Wednesday. The retailers who came to buy the Holi stuff said that the demand for Modi pickharis are high may be due to the craze for PM Narendra Modi.
One of the buyers purchasing `Modi water sprinkler' said that this is a new toy in the market. This year's other attractions are cartoon characters like 'Doremon' which are attracting children. In the retail markets, shopkeepers have displayed colour powders and Holi accessories such as water guns, balloons and traditional pichkaris. All types of water guns ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 350 were being sold in the markets. Most of the guns are made of plastic. Water guns like `Dragon and Desi boys' are attracting kids and are in much demand. Some of them make sound with twinkling light when they are used. Besides water guns coloured masks of cartoon character are also in demand. Masks of Mickey Mouse, Tom and Jerry, Veer Hanuman and of Dragon are much sought after.
The shopkeepers informed that `Modi masks' and `Modi pichkaris' had reached us a couple of days ago and are being purchased by the retailers who are taking these items in bulk to sell them to the people in their domestic markets, said Salamat Khan, a local wholesaler at Bisati bazar.
“Dragon is a Chinese water gun operated by a battery. As soon as a user presses the button dragon’s eyes become red and it throws colour water” said Saleem Khan, another wholesaler.He further informed that at present more than seven dozen types of water guns with different sizes were available in the market. “There is a gun named `Pressure gun' which
can throw water upto 30 feet. The cost of this gun is Rs 500. There are a few models of this gun available. The cost varies from one model to another based on their water tank capacity”, said Mohd Nasir, another shopkeeper.
The Holi stuff include a spectacle without lens. Colourful frame of the spectacle is attached with a pouch by a fine tube. As soon as user presses the pouch, water oozes out from the frame of spectacle.
Another wholesaler informed that traditional Indian style water guns were also available in the market. But there were few takers for them as they were heavy and made out of metal. However, traditional style plastic guns were available in abundance in the market.
Traditional style water guns were generally manufactured by the Indian manufacturers while high pressure guns and fancy water guns are manufactured by the Chinese manufacturers.
He specifically mentioned that retailers from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand also come here to purchase all stuff and earn good profit.