All for a 100 waala...

Diwali at Pilani is a good deal different from diwali anywhere else...It was our first Diwali at Pilani and quite naturally, we were sad and happy at the same time...Sad because we werent at home and happy for just the reason that it was a different diwali...

No Diwali is complete without bursting crackers...and we decided to go for it...pooling in money, we bought an assortment of crackers..flower pots,chakras and 100 and all other waalas! The whole place was resounding with the noise of crackers...When the fighting rival gangs stopped to replenish their supplies, we decided to take centre stage and burst!!!

First came the flower pots...really cool...Then it was time for a real 'show of strength'(lol!) and we unzipped the 100.exe's...'Who takes the first one?' someone cried and a sense of comradeship overcame all of us as we said 'you go first' to one another...Gathering courage, K and I decided to 'bell the cat'...With lighted 'special' incense sticks,we went closer..It was dark and the streetlights werent a great help..On top of it, there was this unexplainable nervousness...I went near the well-laid series of intertwined bijilis(!) and bent to see the 'lightable' end...No sooner had I set my eyes on that, there was a scream...K was the culprit..She thought I had lighted it!!...Impulsively, I ran back...'Ok..cool it..'I said and ventured again...This time K let out a loud shriek! This happened a few times...It must have seemed very amusing as someone in a gang waiting for their dinner, said mockingly..'Shh..lets wait till they burst it..' We went for it one more time...K walked over along with me and we held each other tightly...'we need to prove a point'..we declared and summoned all the courage we could muster and bent really close and lighted it..We kept looking at it for what seemed like eternity and when the first 'hissss' came, we had already sprinted many yards away...funny, flight hormone...!

The 100.exe executed perfectly, and we stood there like brave heroes who had just crushed an entire army to defeat! Close by, the 'watchers' broke into a round of applause and those at other tables joined...'Finally..!!' said one...'I never knew it took 2 people, 4 high-pitched screams and 4 feet of running...all for a 100 waala!'