A world of WHAT IFs!

Diwali Revisited - 12 year Hiatus

Whoa, the above is a picture of one of the first few firecrackers that I lit after a twelve-year hiatus from the festival of lights, Diwali, in Pondicherry. Even since I went to college, I was never at home to celebrate it. And every year, the memory of the festival was kinda ebbing away, until this year on Nov.9th.
One big difference that I notice over the years is that, the Pre and Post-Diwali days are pretty quiet now, compared to those days when firecrackers were heard even a month before/after the fest. Dunno what created this change. At least, it's somewhat a relief that now child labor is banned...because manufacturing fireworks in the 90s were largely done by children working in the factories. Anyway, this Diwali day, we did burst quite a number and kids from my street were all jubilant about it. After I inhaled the smoke from the firecrackers, I was transported back to those days where we used to wait without sleep to light the first Lakshmi Vedi (big fat firecracker). Man, how I wish! Sigh...
Pondicherry has changed a lot. Well, more on that later.

CHILD LABOR -The fight to end slavery today!

Courtesy: DroppingKnowledge.org

Hazardous working conditions and long hours is an everyday reality for 14 percent of the world’s children. Using children for cheap labor is a common practice in many countries. Some of these children have never attended school or dropped out after a few years, and many are forced to work in the sex industry.
Believing that every child has the right to education and playtime, thousands of people from every corner of the world marched together to say no to child labor in 1998 under the banner of “Global March Against Child Labour”. The international community responded by Click here for more...