Crackers to emit more light, less sound this year

It’s Diwali and people are lining up at cracker stalls that have been erected across the city. And it looks like the focus has shifted to crackers that emit light, rather than sound.

Prabhu, who has put up a couple of stalls in T Nagar, tells us, “This year, with the ban on high-decibel crackers, many manufacturers have shifted focus to crackers that emit light. We have more varieties of crackers that go up and burst in the sky, like 12 Shots, Colour Burst, comets and rockets. Colour-changing crackers, like Scarlet Saucer are the latest trend. There are also more pasumai pattasu (green crackers), even in usual crackers like flowerpots, chakra and pencils.”

Echoing his thoughts is J Manoj, who has put up a stall in Mylapore. “Since saravedi is banned, customers are opting for sky shots. We have many varieties in sky shots, flowerpots, chakrams and sparklers — crackers that emit light without much noise.”

Ask them if the rain played spoilsport, and Prabhu says, “Sales-wise, it has been dull for the past couple of days due to the rains. But we are expecting that sales will pick up today as it is the day before the festival and many people tend to buy it closer to Diwali.”

On the other hand, Manoj says that the restriction imposed in the timings to burst crackers — 6am to 7am & 7pm to 8pm — has also hit sales.


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