It's based in the northern city of Hathras, where most of the world's gulal ... Colors give you pop," said Manu Garg, Ratan's brother. "Every color tells a story. Red stands for love.

In 1951, Garg’s grandfather Gopal Das set up a small shop in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, to make compound hing (asafoetida) and gulal. Those days gulal was sold in huge gunny bags. Garg’s father ...