This is supposed to be fun???

This was my first Diwali in Delhi outside the canttonment area. Normally I head back home to Dehradun, this time I didn't think it worth my while to actually brave the Diwali rush in the trains to head to Dehradun and instead stay in Delhi and visit some friends.

Just as the evening started... I stepped out and immediately retreated into my house in horror at the assault on the senses this celebration is.


Why? My Eyes are burning and my ears are itching and I have a sore throat from the smoke in the air. If I didn't know better, from the sound track I'd have thought that it is a war zone.


Till yesterday afternoon I used to think that all the anti-cracker activists were nuts... Today as Diwali is being celebrated(?) I'm a convert. Ban crackers. and ban them pronto.

I used the video mode in my digital camera to capture some video. The camera can capture video at full DVCam resolution 640x480 at 30fps, but it looks as if it has been captured from a low quality phone cam. All the fuzziness is from the smoke in the air. And the sound track could easily be mistaken to be that from the war news clips. In fact, I captured some 12 mins worth (with low res video). One could strip out the sound and use it as backing for all the war clips that our news channels seem to flick from firang channels.

Once I find some hosting space. I'll plonk the video file online...

On second thoughts, you couldn't pass it of as war sounds. Wars are quieter...

Shame on us for even calling this a celebration. Disgusting. Never ever will I spend Diwali in Delhi again.