Deepawali Blues

Yet another sizzling, crackling diwali come to an end and yet again I heave a sigh of relief. The festival of lights has always been a cacophony of sound and fumes to me. Now, I have nothing against the festival as such. In fact, being born on a deepavali day and also being named after it does give it a special place in my heart. But the manner in which the firecracker revelry is carried on does drive me up the wall. Sadly enough Diwali always leaves me with reminiscences of loud crackers splitting my ears. As a rule I choose to shut myself up during this gala ruckus. This time though I dared to venture out with an assortment of crackers and a couple of restless cousins. The half hour I spent amongst the festivities was enough to make me affirm that I will never again dare to leave the safe confines of my house during this season. Being in such close proximity to all those little kids going crazy with their horde of hydrogen bombs, atom bombs and god knows what else, made me truly comprehend the actual hazard that the revelers, onlookers and passers by are subject to. The numerous social messages on safe celebrations seem to be falling on deaf ears. Makes me wonder if the government should step in and bring about some regularization. Some nations do have strict rules that prohibit purchase and bursting of fireworks without the supervision of adults. This thought passed my mind as I stood watching my cousins. But taking a good look around made me realize that such a regulation in our country it would never serve the purpose. Its not just teenagers but also many adults who behave like absolutely ignorant imbeciles. My heart lurched on seeing a little kid, not older than a year, running around barefooted with sparklers in both hands, apparently under the supervision of so called adults. One little slip would have injured the child badly.

I have lost count of the number of rockets that skewed dangerously close to onlookers. Needless to say the manner in which crackers were continuously being burst on the road even when there were people and vehicles passing through. Yeah sure, so what if there is biker coming through. There’s no need to warn him about the lighted cracker lying a few feet ahead, is there? Whatever happened to responsibility and accountability? The statistics on accidents during the diwali season no longer surprises me. Makes you wonder, have we become so mesmerized by the brilliance on display to care about human lives. The pyrotechnics get wackier each year, enough to make up my mind to stay within the precincts of my home every diwali