Diwali-Wali

Pop!

" No, no, no, no, no! I'm not going out there for those horrible horrible sounds to explode in my ears every five seconds." She moaned, crouching in the middle of the room.

"Come on, Yezhil! It's so much fun! You've been bred too soft in a big abroady city like Dubai's boring pathetic excuse for a Diwali. This the real Diwali.; Right here in the home town." her father coaxed.

"You're not really helping there." His wife commented, as she hurried around them to get things ready for the day's unending events.

"Well, then I like the other Diwali better! It's soooooo loooouuuuuudd here!" She followed her whining with a grunt as her brother, Murali tripped over her in his hurry to get his Diwali box.

"Kadugu (mustard seed)! Why are you in the middle of the room? You tripped me over!"

"Get some glasses, blind old man!"

" But seriously, Kadugu! Why can't you mope in the corner? Why in the middle of the room?"

"Because the corner is close to the window, which is close to the loud noises, which I am trying to avoid, Burj khalifa!" she said kicking her tall sibling, who resembled more of a bamboo pole than the stately tourist attraction.

Sticking her tongue out at him, she claimed back the pillow she wanted to use to cover her head and ears. (He had stolen it just to annoy her.)

" We've got to get her out there somehow!" Her father said, exasperated that his little girl didn't share his love for fire crackers. "I know she'd love it if she tried!"

"Baby, you're coming down whether you like it or not. I'm locking up the house and you're father, brother and I are going downstairs to make some noise." Her mom said gathering up her hand bag, a bucket and a box of crackers, before jingling the house keys at her and exiting the room.

"You're going to join them?" Yezhil dropped her jaw, and her eyes widened in horror.

"Yes! Now, stop being such a worm or I'm going to blast an aane vedi(elephant bomb) next to your ear!" Murali cackled maniacally.

"Appaaaaaaaaaaa!" She wailed for her dad, shuddering at the prospect.

"You'll do nothing of the sort, Murali!" Her father said firmly, though he couldn't help but control the twitching of his lips that were begging to burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Yezhil scowled as her father faintly mumbled 'nothing'.

By this time, her mother was framed in the doorway once again. "Well, I've been waiting for five minutes! 'You kids coming, or what?"

"You guys go on, I'm not going." Yezhil turned around, her back facing her family, and crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

"I give up!" Her mother groaned, throwing her head back as she trudged out of room, her voice trailing behind, "Bring her down in two minutes or I'm locking you all in."

7 months ago the family of four had moved from Dubai to Chennai to take care of Yezhil and Murali's aging grandparents. Unlike Murali, who seemed to blend into the rapid pace of the Chennai lifestyle, Yezhil had plenty of trouble with adjusting to the new surroundings. Everything was so different here. In Dubai, being sophisticated and angelic gave you the keys to the golden kingdom, whereas Chennai life seemed to be all about how tough you were. With the onset of Diwali, it seemed that the test of toughness was put to the extreme. And she certainly didn't feel up to it.

"She's not gonna budge, Appa!" Murali informed his father in monotones.

"Then we're going to have to take some action, Magane (son)." He said, giving his young one a meaningful look.