[Thebat]

Originally Posted by emkay.india

I will burn crackers for sure - not just this Diwali but for all the Diwalis to come. When an entire town (Sivakasi) works 365 days just for this one day, it's fine to burn crackers without feeling guilty about polluting.

There is an entire country next to us manufacturing terrorism, by this logic we should support them and their livelihood too without thinking about ourselves.

We have to cut down on a lot of things to make our earth a better living place and fireworks are a small but significant part of it. Not only do they cause air pollution they also cause a lot of noise which is harmful to humans and animals alike and the waste in the form of burnt paper used for packaging and left over chemicals they leave behind are atrocious and can never be cleaned effectively.

We have to change our attitude towards our planet for our own good. Justifying our own actions by pointing fingers at others would lead to a never ending juggernaut.

[avdhesh15]

Well, in Mumbai this year we have no option. With the rains, it's going to be a rainy Diwali it seems like.

[Thad E Ginathom]

It could be in Chennai too.

I'll admit... I will feel bad for the disappointed children if it is rained out.

[FrodoOfTheShire]

Haven't burst crackers from last 10-15 years, probably after my 12th standard. No plans to do so this year.

What baffles me is when people behave as if bursting fire crackers in Diwali is their birthright and part of our "culture". It's not! In proper terms, it's called Deepawali, deep means "light" and avali "a row" to become "a row of lights." These new age firecrackers (with criminally insane amount of explosives, chemicals, sound and smoke) are definitely not part of our "culture".

Light some earthen oil lamps, candles and/or LED lights. Deepawali is a festival of lights, not of noise and smoke!

[sunsetorange]

Deepavali is the one festival the kids look forward to celebrating. This year too, they ( and I ) will celebrate with fireworks. I don't believe lighting a handful of fireworks once a year is more harmful to the ozone layer than people driving a gas guzzling car/ truck all the way from the plains to the hills/ mountains/ Ladakh to get away from pollution. Happy deepavali!

[humyum]

Haven't touched a cracker since almost a decade and don't plan to too. With the way people have stopped spendings due to an uncertain economy, I don't think there will be much of a Diwali in Mumbai atleast. Every festival has become muted and I expect Diwali to be no less.

[narayans80]

Forum is filled with whole bunch of oldies (including me)

Crackers have been on a slow decline since 1993-4 when cable TV came into being. Since there have been so much entertainment kids have had, crackers aren't fancy anymore. I saw it first hand with my elder, who was excited as a 8-year old (her first Diwali since she was 2) and not so much as a 10-year old now. So you really don't have to do anything at all.

Funny thing is, the court ban last year only meant lot more took pleasure in bursting crackers than they usually would.

Am really surprised people go on drives in Diwali season. I've experienced inflated travel times the days leading up to Diwali as a college student years back. Going by colleagues experience, things haven't changed much. Which places are really free to visit during Diwali? And its better than Xmas-New Year holiday season?

[dark.knight]

For those who want to get into the spirit of Deepawali/Diwali, they should wholeheartedly go ahead as some of my best childhood memories are that of this festival of lights which is the only time really when we Hindus come together.

My only request is a simple one, light diyas, share sweets, put rangoli and as far as crackers are concerned.. there are sparklers, color sparklers, flowerpots and chakras.. even the twizzlers/strings etc. Next up are bijlis if necessary. Kindly avoid hydrogen, atom and other sizeable bombs.. rockets too.. too risky, too noisy and too much of a bother for others. Then again its only a request.

This coming from a guy who tossed hydrogens/atoms mid air after lighting, used tin cans over similar spec bombs, had ringing ears due to close calls and wondering how I got away without a severely singed hand or a black eye with no eyebrows (Tom & Jerry style) . That was a decade and a half ago, not bought crackers ever since my last teen blowout (literally).

We lessen our mistakes as we grow, I hope this post is taken in the right spirit. Nothing about age has got to do with increased awareness if we can accept it.

[procrastinator]

Few years back I enjoyed bursting crackers.
When I would return to home, I could breathe smoke and hear loud sounds that would disturb my sleep.
Next day, the roads are dirty and air has heavy particulates which can be felt while we breathe. The joy is for few hours but affects are longer and intense to nature.
No tha-tha anymore!

[arindambasu13]

I think after a certain age, the enthusiasm to burst crackers and the nonchalance about creating heavy air pollution kind of dies down drastically. At least that is what has happened in my case. I used to love bursting crackers and creating a racket, but then in the last few years I have stopped completely. I still like to see when others are bursting crackers around me, but that is about the extent to which I participate.

So no, no crackers for me this Diwali, as usual, however, I love the festival decorations and lights all around. Will continue to enjoy those like every year

[ariesonu]

Crackers, perse, NO but I still love to cracks some rounds on the GUN TOY, The paper strip ones, I don't like those Chinese ones with PLASTIC pellets that we get these days.

Reminiscence of younger days as that was the first indicator that Diwali was nearby.
The gun would get jammed after our over ABUSE use & then we would move to bursting those strips between stones or get real hardcore & use hammers from dad's toolbox.
Getting more experimental, we would use heavy duty PLIERS by placing each pellet between teeth of Plier & then bang the plier on the hard surface.
AH, those were the days.

Who remembers them??


Regards-Sonu

[rovingeye]

Originally Posted by ariesonu

AH, those were the days/

Took me back 35 years. Thanks. Those were the days indeed.

[jkrishnakj]

Aah.. Who doesn't remember them Ariesonu. I almost was ready to play the 'Police - Thief' game all over again now. For me, Coming from Rajini Land those Toy guns made from metal were like a treasure. Oh boy ! I went back 40 years.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by ariesonu

... paper strip ones..
Getting more experimental, we would use heavy duty PLIERS by placing each pellet between teeth of Plier & then bang the plier on the hard surface

Actually the 'caps' were called 'Roll Caps' (used in toy guns) and 'Dot Caps' for which one had to use a contraption with a nut & bolt and two washers in between. Load the dot caps within the washers, tighten the bolt on the nut and hurl it - BANG!

Even more adventurous way to burst roll caps was to scrape the strip over a rough surface so as to ignite the chemical using friction - and land up with burnt finger ends!!

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

Actually the 'caps' were called 'Roll Caps' (used in toy guns) and 'Dot Caps' for which one had to use a contraption with a nut & bolt and two washers in between. Load the dot caps within the washers, tighten the bolt on the nut and hurl it - BANG!

Even more adventurous way to burst roll caps was to scrape the strip over a rough surface so as to ignite the chemical using friction - and land up with burnt finger ends!!

Yes and there was that odd cracker shaped like an garlic which is actually intended for throwing at walls. I don't recall the name.