Happy Diwali!

I stood in my rooftop terrace and watched in glee as colourful fireworks exploded on th sky above. They were like mini-rocket bombs! I usually find it difficult to laugh while coughing in all that cracker smoke, but no one can resist smiling at the colours above... specks of green, red and gold dotting the sky. My legs refused to move, even though I realised that it was actually dangerous to stand like this, barefoot and clothed in a cotton dress. It was like being in a battlefield, with all the sounds and smoke - a happy battlefield, if there is one!

After half an hour, I finally came downstairs and sat before the comp. I tried to concentrate and finish my work, I had a few deadlines at work... had to finish a couple of stories for the magazine I was working for, yet, it was difficult to. The sounds of firecrackers were defeaning... and I, who can't work if a mosquito burped loudly, didn't mind it at all!

Perhaps that's Diwali. It catches upon you, and you just can't avoid it. I am not big of festivals, but this one is very tough to ignore.

Generally I make a point never to go out during Diwali season... you never know when you are going to step on a landmine, oops sorry, firecracker. But Diwali comes to you... the way you start when an especially loud cracker goes off, when your pet hides under the bed for 3 continious days, when you feast on sweets and dosas non stop, when you get a weekday off from work, when kids ... Diwali is there in your life.