pretty little one

The delight at the wonderful moments she makes

And the sweet laughter in her unusual babbles

Her childish innocence sparkles in her smile

Her world is a haven of joy and surprises

She has no envy or feelings of dismay

There is the innocent rage though that takes control sometimes

She doesn’t hate anybody, she loves all

Her heart is pure and free from hatred of any kind

Her favourite things are as simple as chocolates and toys

It wouldn’t take someone much time to befriend her

She’s a bundle of energy packed with emotions of all kind

She runs around the house shouting just about anything

Her stories may have no begginning and sometimes no end either

But it would be harsh not to listen to her broken recollections

She doesn’t take things to the heart,

she may flare in rage a moment and love you the next

Her hugs are lovable and priceless

She wraps all her warm affection around you

She’s sweet, lovely and needs affection

Yet sometimes she’s rather neglected or forgotten

She’s as essential and important as any soul can be

She’s indeed a pretty little girl in this big wide world

. . . .

I write this poem for a reason. The reason is neglect of the girl child. Its prominent and rampant. Its heartening to see. Give the necessary importance to the girl child. She deserves it more than anybody !

EARLY FIRE-CRACKERS !

It's not really known when and where firecrackers originated. Although both the Ramayana & the Mahabharata mention the bursting of firecrackers to celebrate victories, the common consensus is that to the use of firecrackers originated in the human province of China in 200 BC when the Han dynasty was in power .

         A villager from Human threw chunks of green bamboo into the fire because he did not have sufficient dry fuel. The bamboo chunks sizzled, blackened & then exploded with a deafening sound, startling the man but giving him the idea of getting rid of evil spirits by exploding bamboos. It wasn't  long before most people in China began to burn bamboo to keep evil spirits away.
         In 600 AD, alchemist Sun Si Miao developed a gun-powder like mixture by mixing saltpetre, honey, sulphur and arsenic disulphide, which produced a hot, bright flame when heated over fire.
         However, the first to use the mixture as firecracker was a chinese monk named Li Tian. When Prime -minister Wei Zhou of the Tang dynasty was plagued by the ghost of an evil dragon he had killed, Li Tian filled a bamboo with the gun powder like mixture and set it on fire. The loud explosion is said to have so frightened the ghost that it stopped haunting him. Li Tian came to be known as the 'father of the firecracker' in China and during the song dynasty, a temple was built to honor him. On 18 April every year, people offer sacrifices at the temple to commemorate the invention of the firecracker.
         The bamboo was replaced by paper rolls after paper was invented. The firecracker or baozhu was made by rolling sheets of paper into small tube, stuffing it with gun powder and fixing it with a fuse.
         Since the 18th century, the Human province has been the center of firecracker production in China. The world's largest manufacturer of fireworks today is China.

         Fire crackers were so popular in Britain that Queen Elizabeth I is said to have created a position for a fire master. King James II was so fascinated with the display of fireworks at his coronation that he knighted his fie master.