THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Try exploding some Hydrogen Bombs this Deepavali. If that sounds too aggressive for your liking, go for some Magic Black Snakes or a Sumo. If you are the space buff type, shoot off a Proton rocket into the night sky.
With the festival of lights around the corner, fireworks sales are hotting up once again in the city. Sparklers, spinners and flower pots rule the roost, but the children also prefer fireworks with some noise, like the crackers that resemble a cartridge belt.
One interesting item - and among the costliest - is the ‘Paradise,’ which falls in the aerial shot category. Costing a hefty Rs 7,000, 500 aerial shots are propelled upwards one by one.
This time, though, tight restrictions on fireworks production in Sivakasi, the cracker capital of the south, could prove a dampener for fireworks buffs, say vendors.
Prices have gone up by 15 to 20 percent, says Bhaskararajan, managing partner of VS Trading Company, Chalai, one of the veteran firms of the city.
“It’s not just that the prices have gone up, the supply is also less this year. There is also a shortage of many items,’’ he said.
Like every year, this time also Thiruvananthapuram depends on Sivakasi for much of the fireworks supply. A little bit comes from Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district, still, Sivakasi rules as it meets 98 percent of the demand, fireworks vendors in the city said.
Fireworks manufacturers have to be creative, not just in coming up with new designs, but also in giving their creations catchy names. So you have the predictable space agency types, such as Proton, PSLV and Rohini rockets, more down-to-earth ‘Balle Balle’ and ‘Chal Mere Saath’, the menacing but largely unimaginative Hydrogen Bomb and even covers featuring a BMW and Shreya Saran.
trivandrum@epmltd.com