This story begins when I visited my relatives to celebrate Diwali. There are generally two types of people: those who are afraid of firecrackers and those who are not afraid at all. The latter sometimes experiment with them. I was always curious about everything, and fire was no exception. I wanted to find different ways to ignite the firecrackers just for fun.

While the adults went out, we kids were bored, so we decided to go up to the roof to light some firecrackers. We set off many firecrackers, but when it was time for the seven-shot firecracker, I, being the oldest, attempted to light the string connecting them. It didn’t ignite, so we opened the wrapper and tried to light it manually for ten minutes. Doubts began to creep in about this firecracker, but I decided to give it one last try.

As I started trying again, suddenly... it fired. All seven shots went off right on the roof where we were. Some of my hair was singed, and my ears rang in silence. I was in shock for a few minutes and didn’t feel any pain immediately, but for safety, I washed my hands. Soon after, the pain began to set in. While I was washing my hands, our parents arrived, and my cousins explained everything to them. The pain worsened, and despite trying various remedies like rice and potatoes, only cold water seemed to ease my discomfort.

My father and uncle took me to the hospital. The doctor said my hands were in very bad condition because we had delayed treatment. After treatment started, I still didn’t go to school for a month due to the pain. Our elders had always advised us not to light firecrackers when they weren’t around, but I didn’t listen. Later, you can see what happened. Many pieces of advice from your parents are for your own good; they don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Sometimes they might be wrong, but in risky situations, it’s always better to heed their advice.