Thursday 3 November 2016

There's a WhatsApp fwd that's about the conspiracy to suppress Deepavali and other festivals because of the campaign to reduce or stop crackers. First fireworks are a Chinese invention. My great grandfather would not have burnt crackers, which is about 100 years ago. Even my father says in his childhood they used to make rudimentary fireworks with "sulfur and something else".
I am proud to say that there was a considerable reduction in firework frenzy this year in Hyderabad.  Cheers to Hyderabadis ......a long way to go, but we are on the right road.
Getting back to where I began, Deepavali tradition in the north is to light lamps and do Lakshmi puja. In Tamilnad we celebrate early morning before sunrise by having an oil massage, nelangu, bath, wearing new clothes, eating sweets at 5am and eating Deepavali lehyam (like a Churan ka. halwa) to compensate.
Fireworks not mandatory. So where is this supposed conspiracy in discouraging fireworks?


Ceiling fan

 I read somewhere that as a solution for student suicides, IISc has decided to remove fans from hostel rooms. No fan, no suicide. This shoul...