As you all know, the majority of last week was spent at a family friends’ house to see how Diwali is celebrated here. I went there without any knowledge of what to expect and was therefore pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
Apart from Diwali Eve, which was spent in Brickfields, the majority of the time was spent at their relatives’ houses, eating and drinking far too much. It was here that two things struck me as special experiences.
Mainly, I was stunned by my first experience of Chinese Fireworks and can see why they are banned in many countries. Not only were they a visual feast for the eyes, the sounds were immense (many times setting off the neighbours house and car alarms). After a few minutes of setting off some of these explosives, my ears were ringing as if I had just come back from a gig. The truly shocking element of these fireworks though, were the pieces of shrapnel that flew off from even the smallest one. Several times, standing well clear of the lit firework was not enough to avoid being hit by warm pieces. This further amazed me since most of the fireworks were lit in the middle of the road. Surely the pieces must be denting the cars parked nearby.
As stunning as the crazy Chinese fireworks were, I was more impressed by just how welcoming Malaysian families are for strangers into their homes. Fair enough, I was a friend of the family, but I had never met any of these people and yet, they welcomed me in with open arms. This was truly delightful.
Over the course of this past week, I had intended to capture loads of photos of the celebrations, but I was swept up in the relaxing ambiance of the holiday that the only photos taken were of exploding fireworks. Nevertheless, I shall aim to upload some of these and the rare videos taken of the Brickfields High Street in due course…
