Fun with sparklers during Diwali

The money i decided to buy crackers with wouldn't get me much more than a few packets of sparklers. Thankfully, it was Vidhya's brother's "thalai-Deepavali" (First Diwali after marriage) and he had purchased umpteen crackers to blast.

But, I had decided to put the sparklers i bought to good use, though i wasted many in the process. We tried many long exposure photographs using the sparklers. The one below was for a duration of 10 seconds, but it took few photos to get the J's orientation right.

Next, the duration was changed to 20 seconds and i tried to write Vidhya's and my name. I just managed it before the sparkler finished, though it was tough getting the H and Y right.

We did try a lot other tricks too, the heart shape being the most common attempt for any long exposure "light" snaps. The next one was done using the "sattai" or the rope which emits a streak of fire when lit at one end.

Diwali was fun. The view from the terrace was awesome. The photo below gives an idea of the number of rockets which can be seen at any instant.

Technorati Tags: diwali fireworks long exposure photo photography

Diwali rockets have sky-rocketed

This is my first Diwali in India in six years and i was quite surprised by the relative lack of excitement visible on the streets considering that Diwali was just around the corner. Where are the crackers? Where is the noise?

Back then, when we were in school, my brother and i used to be allocated a budget to buy crackers. We would then do lot of complicated mathematics with the price list to arrive at an optimum combination of "hardcore" bombs and soft ones like the traditional flowerpot, pencils etc. It was important that we start bursting crackers before the "rest of the gang" and we had crackers left to burst after the rest had burned out theirs.

This year, i didn't have much of a company and i too wasn't very keen on bursting a lot of crackers. So, the purchase was put off until yesterday evening. Yesterday, i got the details on the good places to buy crackers and visited those shops. The first one i visited "theoretically" started around half a km before the actual shop, as the queue extended until there. I was in no mood to start an hour to purchase a few crackers. A similar story unfolded in all the other branded shops i visited. So, i went back to the "local" shops though i was told that the crackers might be a bit expensive there.

I had budgeted approximately 500 Rupees for the purchase, as i just wanted to have a feel of the crackers. I wanted to buy the entire course of crackers starting with the sparklers and ending with the rockets. I first asked for a pack of sparklers. Out of curiosity, i asked the shopkeeper for the price. He said "125 Rupees, sir". 125 rupees for a pack of sparklers! My purchase had almost finished as soon as it began! I was very careful in the further purchases enquiring about the price of each item before purchasing it. Good that i had forgotten the big shopping bag which i had intended to bring. Otherwise, it would have been an embarrassment if i had given the bag to the shopkeeper for the very few items that the 500 rupees would have got me. In fact, the number of items i got for the amount fit into a small plastic cover which usually fits two aavin 500ml milk packets!

Anyway Happy Diwali to one and all, while i go out for 5 minutes to burst the crackers i have bought...

Technorati Tags: diwali crackers pattasu diwali party happy diwali