Opinion Sparklers,Rockets,Crackers,Smoke

CNN-IBN: Those things that also sparkle,therefore derived in some ways from sparklers on sticks,but they look quite different. Indeed,these sparklers — a shiny wrapper around a hard shell — seem determined to look different from the sparklers mentioned earlier. They get lit faster,but are said to produce fewer stars. They compensate for the fact that they don’t burn as long as sparkler sticks by having a more intense burn and by being less predictable: sometimes they explode,although we are told they are not supposed to.

Times Now: Rockets. You put rockets in empty receptacles and light their fuse,and you watch in absolute wonder — there’s no guarantee what trajectory they will take as they zoom out. They light up very fast,faster than either kind of sparklers mentioned above,but on being lit,they just produce one flash before they take off. So,just one star,really.

Aaj Tak: A big bunch of crackers tied together. Lights up fast,and after that? Continuous,unremitting flashes and noise. But don’t be fooled by the many flashes when you judge this Diwali staple. True connoisseurs wait for the one big bang that comes in the middle somewhere.

Headlines Today: Take out one cracker from the big bunch of crackers. And you have to listen very carefully; otherwise you may miss the sound.

News X: A Diwali candle in the wind. It’s lit,no it’s gone,no not quite gone,there’s a flame,but really hard to spot it what with all the illumination from the sparklers,rockets and crackers.

Many other news channels that have come up,and keep coming up: A box of laddoos. Take out any of them and have a bite,they are indistinguishable from each other. But let’s not get elitist here. What’s Diwali without laddoos? When you have had enough of fancy sweet things,a bite of a laddoo can connect you to,as they say,“real people”.

BBC’s India coverage: Fancy,foreign sweet thing that tries very hard to be part of the quintessentially Indian Diwali setting. Succeeds a lot of times. But a chocolate éclair is not a gulabjamun –- that’s what most people think.

India TV: Late Diwali evening smoke in the air. It hangs heavy. You know it will be there,but you still can’t believe what you are seeing. It seems dangerous. But then you think deeper — this is really what it’s all about. The fogginess around you,things look different from what they are — it’s all maya.

Happy Diwali. Especially to all the news TV guys. This column owes everything to them.

saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com