Bah, Humbug

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, but unlike the festival of lights I'm used to where you calmly light a few candles on the menorah, this holiday is celebrated with deafening firecrackers exploding at random in the street.  Although this year Diwali officially lasted from October 25 to the 31st, the firecrackers began about two weeks ahead of time and have now persisted into November, randomly erupting all over the town like land-mines.  When I try to relax in the relatively quiet haven of my apartment, these loud booms frighten me at all hours of the day and night.  I've been on edge when walking down the street for the past 3 weeks because kids will light these homemade explosives within feet from where I'm standing, sending me into panic mode.  After a while, random deafening blasts start to get on your nerves a bit.  I'm all for respecting diverse religious celebrations, but the holiday was supposed to end over a week ago and I'm starting to go insane from the noise.  I may be the Indian equivalent to Scrooge, but it's time for this frightening merrymaking to end.  Bah, humbug.