Hey, um, happy belated Deepavali. Though technically the day’s not over in the rest of the world yet. 😛

My neighbourhood is small. I wonder why Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, celebrated by Hindus, brings upons lights… and sound? Noisemaking firecrackers down the road. Other kids are screaming and car alarms are ringing from the sudden pops from the rockets, but don’t those kids get it?

What’s even worse is that they have one for Chinese New Year: The dreaded caterpillar firecracker! A string with rows of red tubes, brightly colored and even brighter-sounding! Played best at night to irritation of tired and sleepy neighbors weary on their traditional money-collecting rounds.

Firecrackers and fireworks alike were supposed to be banned in this country. But then banning is something that only works… for 2 years or less. Arcades were supposed to be banned, but I can still play Daytona anywhere. It all depends, I guess. 😛