I hated Diwali as a child. There were very few things that I was not scared of. Crackers, were scary. I would generally hide in a corner or lock myself in a room if anyone tried to drag me out. I would weep and pee a little every time a loud one went off.
The only part of diwali I enjoyed then is go out with the group of child scavengers at night, collect all the un-burst ones, out them in the apartment’s garbage bin and blow the tin box up. So, fear and violence. I was a creep on diwalis.
I may have done the first remote detonation of a bomb only a few years back. Light a paper, put the bomb on top of it and run like hell. Diwali is also the time when my cowardice is on full exhibit. But for the first time, I may also miss crackers. I hate crackers, i am glad they are gone, hopefully. But I also wish they had a Aadhar card based system that allotted one bomb per family and nothing else. Next time?
