Episode 345 : My experiments with light and sound

My earliest memories of the festival are those of lit sparklers, Roman candles, burning snakes, bright flower-pots and whirring fire-wheels. I did not fancy exploding rockets, garland crackers or cape pistols back then. There was always the fear of sparks burning my hands or not backing quickly enough.

It took some years before I mustered enough courage and lit a garland cracker, unknown to anyone in the house. The following year I was in Madras, and my best friend from school guided me through the different crackers available in the market.

We picked up bijlis (thin, single crackers), kuruvi vedis that were slightly fatter than bijlis, and Lakshmi vedis (a fatter, larger variety) once I was ready for them. I still stayed away from the atom bombs, the bullet bombs and exploding rockets. But that lasted only till the next year. By then, I had devised ways to explode crackers and still not get affected by the sounds.

Every shop had a catalogue that I went through carefully. Every day I had to balance what I wanted with how much money I had. Having lost interest in garland crackers, I went for other crackers sets- Netaji crackers, bullet bombs, cake bombs, atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, colourful exploding rockets, whistling rockets... it was like being in a toy shop with no money on hand.

The house that was once silent now boomed with the sounds of various explosives.

For added effect, I pulled out old tin cans and bottles with narrow necks, and began to try out different things. The joy seeing a tin can hurl itself several feet into the air could never be described. The pleasure of lighting a bijli and throwing it away just before it exploded took a lot of practice before I could toss several in a minute. Bricks and bottles helped me understand theories on missile trajectory that I had picked up in Physics classes only recently. Lighting a small pile of gunpowder helped me realise the importance of being careful.

My grandmother learnt what it is like being in an underground when I dropped a lit atom bomb into a small opening in the ground. The family was lucky that my experiment of tying an atom bomb to a rocket and lighting both using the same fuse was a failure - the rocket did take off but the bomb's payload was too heavy and the rocket landed into a puddle of water next to the house. The neighbouring trees escaped from being burnt down. The experiment of using soft mud as launchpad failed to take off.

Fortunately for me, the family was also unaware of my outdoor lab experiments. The days leading to every Diwali were like open sessions on Chemistry and Physics where I taught myself how things worked. It continued till I reached college, and until that fateful Diwali.

I had purchased the largest stash of firecrackers that year- the days of sparklers, Roman candles and snakes were over. A packet of agarbattis that took over from sparklers, a large box of matches and a few candles were my basic tools. With a long weekend coming up, I was preparing myself for an explosive time. I planned my itinerary for 3 days, and figured I could have a few left over for the next year.

Edwina wanted to watch from a safe distance, which I did not mind. I had not planned on Papa Hyde coming along. He took a look at the pile of explosives and said just one line.

'Finish them all tonight'

I was aghast. All of them? They were to last at least two 4-hour sessions, but my father did not budge. I had to finish them that very night. No left overs.

What was supposed to be fun, turned into a chore. I only remember moving back and forth, lighting and then dodging. There was no question of setting up tin cans or unusual bottle angles. Everything had to be done in the right way. My Diwali that night was ruined beyond repair. By the time I was finally done, I still had a handful.

I packed them in a trunk, thinking I would use them the following year.

I did not count on burnout. I never opened that trunk after that.

All I do now is light a few lamps, watch others burst crackers and set off rockets. The elaborate light and sound show from my apartment balcony is enough for me.