Love and Hate

Crackers and me have been quite distant from each other for the past 6 years, reasons three :
1. A big 'green' activity group coming to school making us swear to god not to burst crackers ever again.
2. My newly acquired knowledge about the noise and smoke produced by the crackers.
3. (The one which 'might'(very slightly) have tilted the scales) They're scary!!

The small, green, innocent looking bundle of thread when set on fire makes such a big noise, you can never get used to it >.<. Especially not when the small-kid-next-door bursts right next to you when you are out on the day, though fully aware there are bound to be land-mines everywhere.
The reason that I am scared of them can be attributed to one primary incident, which happened around the same time when the above(more important) reasons started influencing my cracker bursting life.
That night, I took a normal, a 6-inch-long sparkler (better known as sur-sur-batti) to light up a 'pilley' flower pot. I lit it up using a candle, holding the flower pot on my left hand. Placing the flower-pot carefully on the freshly-tarred road, and bent to light it up. Small sparks oozed out of the flower pot as I touched its tip with the sur-sur-batti's dancing sparks. I ran back, to watch the flower pot show its majestic glory.
Nothing happened. The sparks went back to bed. Ayyo tuss pataki. Went close to check if the flame was off and to see if the pot was re-lightable, I bent down.
BANG!
The flower pot, which was supposed to emit colourful sparks so that the little children can clap, and the others would watch it in awe, that friggin conical piece of cardboard and paper and phosphorous and god-knows-what, exploded right on my face! Fortunately, no pieces of it came to me, and no lasting injury on me, unless you consider the sprouting of the seed of hatred for the crackers in me.
Ironically, crackers found their way to my home yet again this year, thanks to my cracker-enthusiast father :x
Crackers may have all their what-dyou-call-ems, negative points, but on the perfectly clear nights the Deepavali festival always promises, sitting on the balcony, watching people run when they light the crackers, smile when it explodes, watch in wonder when it shows its multi-coloured magnificence, the beauty of the pitch-black night sky when its lit up with green and yellow and red, carries you to a different world.