Diwali has always been a magical time of the year for me. Its the time where everyone is cheerful and happy.

Personally for me the magic is when you hear fireworks all over the place and you know that when some fireworks go off, someone is celebrating. This festival has that uncanny ability of connecting absolute strangers.

This year I decided to go really light on the fireworks… For one I felt that I wasnt in the mood for them and the other reason being the ‘green’ cause. My Diwali was going to about meeting relatives and friends. I was also really looking forward for my annual fireworks photography sessions though :P

Ironically it was during the time I spent trying to capture exploding fireworks that I realized something, It looked like there were far too few people setting off firecrackers in the city. My opinion was echoed as I drove thru the city and noticed the drastic reduction of fireworks on the streets.

I was very disappointed, this is one of the most beautiful festivals on the calender and its charm is slowly disappearing. The fact that RJs on the local radio stations were also encouraging listeners to skip the fireworks for the environment(and other reasons) wasnt adding to the cheer either. I understand that there are problems in the world that need to be solved, but it coming at the cost of sharing happiness… Doesnt sound like a good bargain to me.

This is like my second year with minimal fireworks and I sorely missed it this time. Next year, I have decided that I will find my way to make up to the environment but not at the cost of my Diwali. I had to be satisfied by the minimal amount of photography I got to do this time around but on the flipside, I already have plans for next Diwali :)