The last week of October saw the entire country celebrating the festival of lights. Diwali brings people together and marks the beginning of the Indian winter.People decorate their houses with candles, Diyas and Lanterns, also known as Kandils. The markets are filled with gift shops, laden with a selection of gifts to suit all budgets. This is the time for the sweet shops to highlight their creativity and come up with different flavors for the festive season.

The sound of crackers start increasing as the evening draws closer. While boom-boom crackers still hold kids and young people in thrall, some elders too, enjoy the fireworks thoroughly. Some others delight in watching  the show of fire crackers in the sky and indulging  in playing with Firkis, rockets and flowerpots. These noiseless crackers give an excellent display of craftsmanship with the coloured sparkles forming different patterns offer a delightful display. Fikris, also called Chakris rotate at very high speeds and enchant one and all. Used in the open areas these fireworks cause dazzling supernova effects in the sky, a delight to watch.

There has always been a debate on the environment and noise pollution caused by crackers on this day, and with pollution levels rising in metros, some people adopt a cracker free Diwali, enjoying with sweets and getting together. Another school of thought believes that this burning of crackers and smoke actually gets the environment free of harmful insects and mosquitoes which breed in plenty after the rainy season.

Irrespective of their beliefs, everyone has the best time of the year during Diwali, and some of the no-cracker wing folks too can be seen enjoying the fireworks display! ⊕