One_too_many_words

1

I watched on as the guy on the footpath ran quickly into the safety of his house.Seconds later an explosion followed and an excruciating pain beside my left eye overrode all other senses.
As the scorching shrapnel, that had lodged itself firmly between my helmet and temple, slowly seared the soft skin on the side of my eye, the image of clouds of smoke, panicking cats and yelping dogs around me transformed from a blurred 5 MP picture to a 550 Megapixel beast.

As much as it sounds like a scene from a terror attack, the look of sheer glee in the eyes of little children as they watched the destruction gunpowder caused would be enough to prove otherwise.

No, the little children weren't demented.
They were but celebrating the 'festival of lights'.

As overdramatic as it sounds, believe me, the shrapnel that nearly took away my eye, the eye of a nineteen year old that was merely a pillion rider in the passing traffic, was very much real.

Ironically enough, only after I nearly lost my eyesight did I see how blind I'd  been and this was how my self appointed mission to spread awareness began.

Alone I set out on the streets, telling everyone of my experience..
 
Thankfully my first target, the young man who had unintentionally become my assailant , on having the situation explained to him, decided to move his celebration elsewhere.

However, I soon realized that people aren't always that accommodating, take for instance the pleasant looking family I had the honour of meeting.

When asked to not burst crackers in the middle of the street, the mother in turn expected me to empathize with her. Turns out, the tantrums of her children were harder to deal with than a couple of strangers suffering casualties. Her husband, a nice man that flew in to defend his wife, was kind enough to ask me if I expected them to burst crackers in their kitchen instead. According to the wise gentleman, even if they are being a public hazard, I am supposed to turn a blind eye because it's after all Diwali, and Diwali comes only once a year.

And why does this concern you, you ask?

Take a minute, ponder over it and you will realize that even if I didn't get seriously hurt, not everyone may get that lucky. For all you know, you or your loved ones could be next...

The next time you celebrate, please remember, that to a person who loses his eye sight, or worse his life it wouldn't matter if it was on the festival of lights or the auspicious occasion when the Gods decided to grace the earth with their presence, he still wouldn't be able to see the light of day ever again. 

Before I bid goodbye, I want you to know that I write this with the hope that I may change at least one heart,
I write this because I believe that, though I may not be able to change a thing alone, with you it might just become possible...
But most importantly, I write, for I have realised that if another innocent bystander gets hurt because I failed to speak up, it's on me.

Love,
A_girl_with_one_too_many_words