Captain America topis are a rage this Eid

Sravan Vanaparthy
Buying a new topi, or prayer cap, for Eid is an annual ritual for Hyderabad’s Muslim men. And this Eid, many young ones have ditched the plain ol’ white skull caps for a much fancier variety —

Captain America

caps! yes, the popular American

superhero

, Cap’s, iconic star logo has caught the fancy of city folk, who have been thronging

Charminar

’s Ramzan bazaars to find the quintessential Captain topis to flaunt at namaz today.

The trendy topis embellished with a white star circled with red, white and blue stripes have been selling like hot cakes, confirms Mohammed Riyaz, a cap vendor, showing off a big pile of the snazzy topis in many colours. “Har saal Ramzaan ke waqat koi na koi naya designaa aajate market mei. Iss saal yeh star topi zyada bikhri... Bacche log zyada kharidre isko,” says Riyaz, even as a bunch of boys approach his stall and begin to try out the topis in bright shades of green, red, blue. So, are they all fans of Captain America, we are curious. “Heh?! Woh kaun hai?” asks a bewildered Shakeel Ahmed, pulling the cap off his head and looking at it with a renewed interest. Surprisingly, none of the boys in that group seemed to be aware of the American superhero whose symbol they were proudly brandishing. “Yeh Captain America jo bhi hai, idhar ke logon ko nahi pata. Chaand ya star dekhe toh lelethe,” explains Ibrahim, who was out topi shopping with his friends.

Rehmathulla, a 19-year-old, who seemed to be aware of the superhero’s popularity in the West, agrees: “Every year, different varieties of caps flock the markets. This year, Captain America logo caps are the coolest. Even though this logo represents a character from a Hollywood movie franchise, it’s the star symbol which is making the local youth buy these caps.” “For `70 a cap, these are so affordable,” adds Riyaz, explaining why he reckons they are popular. Tell him about Captain America, and the 50-year-old seemed shocked. “Accha hua aapne bol diya. Agli baar hum aise filmi topiyaan nahi laayenge.”