Having a blast!

Last week was a momentous time of celebration & revelry. Taking just 1 day off, I had 9 days of holidays at a stretch. All plans of travel to various places including some treks were spoiled by rain, Naxal fear (among forest officials, not me!), infectious diseases & infectious un-enthusiasm! Thus, I had so much time on my hands & no plans what so ever. It brought back fond memories of good old school summer holidays. Many a hot & weary day those days was spent simply waking up late, eating, reading books, sleeping & meeting friends. I realized how much I've NOT grown up when these holidays were spent in exactly the same way!

Deepavali the festival of lights woke me up from my slumber & laziness, with a bang! Heeding no attention to my parents, friends & 'green' well wishers who're all up in arms against the innocuous, pristine act of celebrating the joy of a festival, I splurged on pataakis (crackers or fireworks). With great gusto, joined by my brother, I burst hydrogen bombs, eerulli bombs, Lakshmi pataakis, flowerpots, bhu-chakras & many of their kind.

It was obvious that the kids next door were outdone by a huge margin. Every kid I spoke to seemed brain washed by so called morally conscientious teachers & parents - creating zombie like robots, with the childhood innocence & joy sucked out with a vacuum cleaner! People had all kinds of reasons to stay away:
'I pity poor kids toiling in inhuman conditions to make crackers' said the housewife who makes her young maid toil 16 hrs a day.
'Why burn money' said a stock market shark.
'Donate to the poor & under privileged' said another who'd never spared a rupee for the crippled beggar.
'How can you pollute the environment' said one whose bike & lips double up as a chimney!
'I hate the noise pollution' said the fella who's custom fitted his car with ear splitting horn, reverse horn, brake horn & stereo.

I suddenly realized:
I make way too much money in my current job...gotta burn some,
I breathe such clean purified air in Bangalore...gotta pollute some,
I live in deafening silence...gotta make some noise!

Some 'grown-ups' (of my age, no more!) had simply lost enthusiasm - for crackers they said; for life in general & for having fun I surmised.
O dear friend, why hast thou grown up so,
grown to not laugh at a pj,
to not have fun doing nothing,
to not enjoy the early morning dew on the red rose?
How often do you get a chance to reclaim your lost innocence?
How often do you get to relive un-adulterated moments of pleasure?
How often do you get to step into a time machine?!!
How often are you reminded of the victory of good over evil,
of opposites in creation,
of darkness & light,
of mythical legendary stories?

To hell with the anti-fireworks brigand, the so called morally concerned, the so called environmentally sensitive, the hypocrites and everyone out to debase the culture & traditions!
Ah, the simple pleasure of speaking out your mind in your cyber-space!
Ah, the simple joy of celebrating life in the name of celebrating a festival!