new delhi the pichkaris and the water guns are emblematic of holi over the years the ubiquitous water sprayer has taken different forms this year the market is filled with water guns run on electric power and rechargeable batteries and interestingly these indian made festival apparatus are giving the chinese products a run for their money according to retailerswith the festival of colours round the corner an array of colours and water guns and sprays crowd the narrow lanes of sadar bazar the oldfashioned water guns are a certainty in almost all the shops but whats new in the market is the electric water guns and rang firecrackersnot like old times now there is a variety of new technology in the market smiled a shopkeeper both manual and batteryoperated water guns are available for prices ranging from rs 20 to rs 750 he added apart from guns we also have artificial snow colour anar and firecrackers another shopkeeper said the demand for organic gulal is much higher these daysretailers said that in the past two decades chinese water guns had taken over sadar bazar and other markets in the city only because indian manufacturers could not match chinese producers in terms of variety quality and quantity that is not the case anymore now most water guns and other holi toys are being made in the country by our own manufacturers said shop owner harjeet singh and you know the best thing about this the water guns and other stuff made by indian manufacturers match chinese products for design quality and affordability one good thing that covid achieved was to encourage entrepreneurs to make in india