Diwali, the festival of lights and prosperity, is a time to celebrate across India. But for Sivakasi, a town in southern Tamil Nadu, this festival is probably a little more special.
Sivakasi is the firecracker capital of India. It churns out the best, brightest and noisiest firecrackers year after year.
Two days before Diwali, the crowds in the markets of Sivakasi have visibly thinned. Most of the crackers have been sold out. The shelves are empty and the shopkeepers are smiling broadly. Some late shoppers are making a grab for the few crackers left in stock.
Heavy rains in the last two days have not managed to dampen the spirit of the people here.
Standard Firework, located in Sivakasi, is the biggest manufacturer of crackers in the world. To keep up with the latest methods of manufacturing as well as cost cutting, the company has set up a factory in China.
At a showroom of Standard Firework, the salesman told us that the bigger cracker boxes had been sold out and we would have to make do with the smaller crackers.
Earlier, boxes of firecrackers used to carry photographs of south Indian actresses and temples. Today, they have been replaced by cartoon characters, popular actors like Jackie Chan and space rockets.
Image: At a firecracker shop in Sivakasi | Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar
