The splash of colours on Holi that will paint the streets of Hyderabad on March 21 is most likely going to be chemical.
“Natural colours are not very bright. Whatever is being sold in the markets with labels of ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ have chemicals like lead and cadmium. It will take a few years before people can completely switch over to safe and harmless colours,” says R. Geetha Reddy, principal investigator at the College of Home Science.
Organic colours
Ms. Reddy’s team has been working on creating organic colours using flowers, fruits and roots for the past decade. Near the college entrance, there are small neatly packed boxes of colour that retail for ₹100 per 250 gm packet.
A few kilometres away from the College of Home Science, Saifabad, is the biggest wholesale market for Holi colours at Begum Bazaar.
Pop-up shops are busy selling small boxes of colour along with 5 kg bags filled with bright yellow, dark blue, magenta and bright green colours.
“Most shoppers prefer liquid colours as this small box can create a bucket of coloured water. The colour stays for at least two days,” says Sikander Singh about the ₹ 50 packet with 50 small plastic containers.
Sellers’ claim
“We don’t sell chemical colours. If we do that, people will beat us up. Those colours might be selling in villages, but in Hyderabad, you will not get artificial colours,” says Mr. Singh who gets the raw material from Mumbai and packages them locally at Dhoolpet area of the city.
Gold, white and pink are the fastest moving liquid colours. Ironically, white is now called ‘Gandhi’ colour which is used by young boys to paint their body.
“The colours stay for two to three days, and we have never received a complaint about itching or rashes,” says Mr. Singh.
‘No guarantee’
Others are not so sanguine about the colours being hawked on the streets. “Those colours are in great demand because they are cheap, but there is no guarantee. Once people develop skin complaints, they will have nowhere to go. We sell only gulal that uses natural products and is not harmful. This is not expensive either since a 5 kg bag sells for ₹ 270,” says Subhash, who runs a 40-year-old shop that sells both Holi colours as well as rangoli colours.
