Ranchiites go for herbal gel, gulal

RANCHI: There's splash of colour everywhere in the city as people of all ages pick the best quality colours and gulaal. But the most popular are herbal colours which are mild on skin and eco-friendly.
Even shops are stocking up in line with the demand pattern. Herbal gel colours are in demand this year.
A shopkeeper in the city, which is selling colours and other accessories, said, "This time we are only selling herbal colours which are good for the skin and are totally non toxic," said Tejpal Singh.
"We have variety of colours, both dry and wet. This time we also have the wet herbal colours in gel form ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 20. The herbal colours range from Rs 200 to Rs 250," he added.
Separate stalls have been set up for natural and herbal colours.
Skin problems, blemishes and irritations are common post-holi as hard chemicals in colours are harmful.
"Herbal colours are completely free from chemicals though slightly costly," said Bobby Agarwal, a housewife, who has chosen natural gulaal over cheap chemical colours.
Besides gulaal, accessories like colourful water guns in different shapes and sizes, are displayed everywhere.
He also said that water canons vary from cartoon characters to normal guns of spiderman and superman starting from the range of Rs 15 to 1500. Cartoon character water guns have been made keeping in mind children who play holi.