Sitting with friends and family, celebrating Diwali by playing cards. Them, not me. I can’t play cards to save my life, it never made any sense to me. I’m told Ace is highest, but a pair of anything beats an Ace. Also, 2,3,5 is the lowest possible hand you can have, but because of how rare that is, it’s the highest. Anyone else confused yet?

Still, it’s the family being together that matters. Diwali is a big deal for us, and I feel that we often lose sight of what’s really important in all of this. People go nuts with buying new stuff, playing cards and gambling away huge sums of money... they spend tens of thousands of rupees on crackers, which have always infuriated me.

I always used to hate the noisy crackers because they would terrify the animals in my house. I remember my dogs hiding under the bed, whimpering because the noise outside would go on all night. I was always very particular about only using the silent crackers, the kind that light up, but don’t explode.

Then I got older and realised that even though I wasn’t making a racket, I was still polluting the air horribly. The day after Diwali in any big city is nightmarish. There’s this thick smog everywhere. Come on people, what are we doing? We’re shelling out piles of cash to pollute our own cities. To give our own kids breathing problems. Still, as long as the family’s having fun together, right?

I’ll never understand where the whole firecracker thing came from; Diwali is celebrated to commemorate the return of Rama to Ayodhya after a 14-year exile. People lit oil lamps along the way to light his path. To my knowledge, no one set off rockets to welcome him home. Nor was the road lined with strips of 10,000 crackers. Bit of a rant, I know, but it’s something that’s always bothered me. I’m thinking about my dogs Kajri and Tony. It must be horrible for them. The racket’s going to go on all night, and there’s nothing I can do. No way for me to explain what’s going on, or why. But I like Diwali. Mom, Avantika and I go around the house putting diyas in all the windows so the house is lit up. It looks beautiful. I spend the evening with my family and my closest friends, catching up and chatting. We play cards, going all the way up to a thousand rupees. We have a blast. That’s how I celebrate Diwali.

I don’t know how many of you have thought about any of the things I ranted about today. Maybe some of you already feel this way. Maybe some of you had never thought about it, but see my point of view now. Some of you might think I’m over reacting, who knows.

Whatever the case; if nothing else, try and spare a thought for my animals.

Love, Imran.