diwali

Friday was diwali. Diwali in Trivandrum is an ejoyment mainly with the tamil community. The brahmins, though have lived in this land for generations, also enjoy this festival sans the richness. Of late thanks to the IT boom, some of the youngsters in this community have tasted money and spend some bucks for crackers. In some houses, they also spend for new dresses. I am not so happy with diwali, probably because i am afraid of 'vedi". I have seen sleeping crackers bursting when i go near it for lighting another one. The deafening sound creates butterflies in the stomach. So i always stop with some "mathappu" or with the "snake balls" which will send out thick black smoke but finally we can see carbon rolls form like a snake. The children around our houses burst cracker from their hands. For me its wasting lots of old news paper for lighting these crackers "lakshmi crackers make great sound". I light the newspaper and keep one or two "Lakshmi vedi" at the other end and run to the farthest corner with hands over the ears and wait for the bursting. Sometimes, the crackers may cheat you, it would send some "buzz sounds".

The oala padakkam (something like mukku vedi) is the cheapest. Though it is not dangerous i cannot light it without a piece of paper. There will be some rockets and the used bottles will be filled in with sand and used as launch pad.The rockets are dangerous ones as they are not guided ones, the bottles may fall down and the rockets may travel straight towards the watching crowds. Some may travel towards the neighbours thatched house. Once it went and hit on a coconut tree and it caught fire and fire engine came and flushed water all over.

We children waited for the "padakka pothi" over and above our father's purchase. We had three uncles and each brought their share of packets. Altogether there will be crackers for three times - One hour in the evening before the Diwali, the morning and the remaining for the ensuing "karthikai".

Because, we were staying in a compound owned by an Annachi (a businessman having their roots in tamilnadu). They are rich and earn by the 7 small houses rented. The children of Annachi's house will be bursting lots of crackers and most of the time we clapp and shout 'hai'.

At last after all is over, we small chilren will clean and make a bonfire wherein the unburnt, uncracked items suddenly get fired - some make sound and some only light.

in between we would go out to look into the streets (agraharams where lot of people live and hence lot of diwali) The pookutti and the beautiful children in the light of mathappu are all a sight to be seen

The diwali day begins like this. We dont exactly remember when we heard the fading sound of bursting somewhere and we slept. But we woke up hearing the cracker and the time is 5 in the morning. My mother would be ready with hot water ( there is no geyser) and 2 sets of cracker packets, new dresses are ketp before the God's pictures and a wooden palaka where we should sit after brushing teeth, and she would pour gingelly oil over the head and then all over the body. An old Murphy radio is switched on for "nadaswaram" from AIR (all india radio) When we come after bathing, she would give us inji lehyam(ginger), the very first item for diwali. We children would eat sweets from all houses and this is a precaution lest we may upset our stomach.

As we grow up, we get farther from this mother's touch and slowly our rituals are not followed and if we scold our children, they will retort that diwali will be good even if it is not followed.

This diwali, some children in our flat hung a huge malapadakkam. It was very near to the building and i objected to it but some child lighted. I got angry and poured some water over it and it did not burst.
Afterwards i felt sorry, i poured water over their enthusiasm. We could be ready with buckets of water and use it in case there is danger. Now i hate diwali.. The streets are full of cars and the crackers are lit in very near these cars (unthinking of the danger). These streets have less and less open space..I pity these children and also i feel spending on crackers and sweets when there are many under privileged children without diwali..