Fireworks

I did not have opportunity to light the fuse of a single firecracker on Deepavali, but I did find the $2000 aerial fireworks over the placid lake, quite the mid-semster respite I had longed for.

As the electronic timers went off with digital precision, the projectile charges were launched into the air with a distinctive "thud" which reminded me of the automatic cannon fire mounted on navy boats. Soon, my analogy to weapons saw parachute flares, anti-aircraft (projectile) and even decoy flares. I could not agree more with the girl standing beside me that, the distant mid air powerful explosions sending shock waves, that we felt in our stomachs, indeed gave us "deepavali" feel.

But, when the cold dark sky exploded in a million colors, the girl beside me cloaked her beautiful salwaar-kameez shimmering in the glow of the exploding fireballs, with a cold dark jacket. Irony I realized, is not without a sense of humour.