SIVAKASI WEATHER
The Festival of Lights and Sounds is Here

06-11-2015
6th November 2015

- The New Indian Express

The Festival of Lights and Sounds is Here

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s the time again to make merry with colourful fireworks and crackers. Business is gaining momentum in cracker shops that are open for the special seasonal sales in the city areas. The choices are sure to let the customers spoilt for choice as a wide gamut of fireworks wonders in many hues, shapes and sizes are ready to be picked in the market.

The nerve centre of cracker sales, the Chalai market, has a beeline of shops, both big and small, where buyers queue up ahead of Diwali day to burst into festivities. From a packet of ‘poothiri’s’ priced at Rs 10, the range touches a high of Rs 1,000 for a grand gift box with an assorted mix of items. Sivakasi, as usual, tops this time as well for being the largest production house from where materials are sourced.

“Majority of materials are manufactured in Sivakasi. This time around, some Delhi-made cracker products are here. The units in Sivakasi bring them from there and make it available for us,” says a trader with MMK Traders in Chalai.

The ‘Delhi-wallahs’ are special in their own way with a set of firecrackers resembling a rotund piece of mass. Vendors claim these crackers can produce a sparkling fire fountain that would stay for several minutes. A box of four pieces of this type costs Rs 500. Its miniature version is available at Rs 250 for the same number of pieces.

Most shops are open early this week. “The business touches its peak on coming weekend and Sunday as customers prefer holiday shopping and take children to choose according to their preference. We also prepare crackers for bulk orders from traders and buyers,” says another wholesaler.

Gift boxes, that have been a fad over the past few years, too have takers. These are available from Rs 250 to Rs 1,000, as contents differ. Other than the contents, it is noteworthy that the makers are careful in doing the packaging with eyecandy pictorial depictions. The tallest ‘poothiris’ and ‘rockets’ are the A-listers in this category.

A trend lapped up by the busy bees, online cracker trade has opened its door to woo customers this time as well. This year, Malappadakkam.com, the one-stop destination over the past four years, opened its doors from the month of October itself. It has four packages on offer.


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