1- Snake Bomb( Saap ki goliyan)
Who can forget the famous black round tablets which took the shape of a snake when lighted on fire. Not only noise pollution free, they were also pocket friendly and relatively risk free.
2- Colorful Matches
A treat for the eyes, these colorful matches produced a number of rainbows in a single flame. In fact, it was the best cracker for little girls(as per my sister).
3- Popping strips
Popularly known as ‘chutputiya’ and ‘reel’ in Hindi, these are thin, red strips with symmetric dot-like protrusions, all in a single line. You could either load them in a small plastic gun and pull the trigger or crush them under you feet and experience it’s popping sound with a hint of spark.
4- Hunter
Another fire cracker that didn’t make much noise, hunter was a close substitute of Phuljhadi (Sparklers) but slightly riskier. It didn’t have a safety latch to hold it and burned till the very last. Nevertheless, it had huge demand owing to it’s big size.
5- Rocket
90’s was a different time when all these fancy sky shots were not available in the market. Rocket was the riskiest cracker that time and often landed into places, where it shouldn’t. You just put it in an empty glass bottle and and in a jiffy, they’re up in the sky.
6- Phoonk Bomb
The easiest cracker to play with, you just had to blow air from your mouth into the cracker while cupping it in your fist and then whacking it on the floor.
7- Aloo/Laxmi bomb
Perhaps the only cracker our parents never allowed us to lite, it was a hazard packed into a small box and wrapped in green wire. It produced loud thud when lighted and created enough fear to make small kids tremble.
It might still be available in market but our laxmi bombs are long gone.
8- Chakri
We didn’t have fancy chakris back then, that produce different color lights and are safe to lite. All we had was a small charki, that produced a whirpool motion, with kids jumping around it.
It was perhaps the only cracker that involved everybody and gave epic moments of joy and laughter.
