i am well. not dead.

It turns out that i cam to mumbai at just the right time, because it has just been festival after festival since September. Right now is the biggest one - Diwali, "festival of lights," which should really be renamed "festival of noise," since it has involved five straight days of firecrackers in the streets. (except you have to say "crackers" cause if you say "firecrackers" you get a blank stare. I don't know.)

And i don't mean sparklers... i mean FIRECRACKERS. Like 'symphony of fire' roman candle firecrackers, except they are set off by five year olds.

I had a big discussion with a father about whether this makes kids smarter and more street-wise, or just puts them at risk for losing eyes. You decide what side i was on.

Anyway, all the streets and windows are lit up, and the houses have little candles on the doorsteps and it's really beautiful. I got to watch families lighting candles to invite Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) into their homes, and another puja where exercise books and account books are blessed for prosperity in the new year (that would be the Hindu new year, which starts today and is different from the Muslim new year (November) and the Christian new year (December), all of which are celebrated in this city).

I loved the celebrations and all the energy on the streets, but the fireworks were kind of scary and no one would take my fears seriously. They just laughed at me when I asked if they were worried about accidents arising from the 2.5 million rupees worth of firecrackers crackers being set off in the middle of the compound. Silly Canadian. Of course there might be accidents. That's why you have to keep your wits about you.

They laughed at me a lot.

Like when I screamed and threw my hands over my eyes when a bottle rocket went out of control and flew ten feet over my head.

And when I screamed and threw my hands over my eyes when a roman candle didn't explode in the air, and fell to the ground and exploded on a car.

And when I screamed and threw my hands over my eyes when a man decided to light a massive pile of tiny rockets (called bombs) just to see what would happen.

And when I screamed and threw my hands over my eyes when a rocket went off its path and ENTERED THE OPEN WINDOW OF AN APARTMENT WHERE IT EXPLODED IN THE KITCHEN.

They assured me that the apartment happened to be under renovation. No worries. And they wouldn't let me close the windows when we went to sleep that night.

So I slept with my hands over my eyes, just in case.

9:17 p.m. - 2003-10-26