My Granpa's ornamental pocket watches, old religious statuettes, or my grandma's woodworks are not very significant to me. What is shown above may not seem like much, but it has inspired me and partly shaped my ambitions -- although I didn't realize this until recently. My grandfather lives in India, and he makes his own fireworks! The right part of the image shows pyrotechnic powders rolled in newspapers and magazines with a blockade at one end. The left side of the image shows fountain sparklers made out of clay and terracotta. Sometimes, they produce flames of different colors and last much longer than the fireworks at the store. However, sometimes they just explode in your face. It happened to me once, and all my grandpa said was, "oops." He makes fireworks to celebrate a Hindu festival called Diwali. During my Diwali break in my childhood, I would catch the night train from Hyderabad and reach my Granpa's village by morning. I look forward to firing off these fireworks every time I go there. But my grandpa always says that they should only be fired off on the day of Diwali after dawn. I don't have that kind of patience. I would steal them from the basement,  climb on top of his roof, and fire them off secretly. 


I don't carry around his fireworks, but they are important to me. I have made my own rocket fuel using potassium nitrate, sulfur, and phosphorus, and it would remind me of my grandpa's fireworks. So, I am kind of carrying his legacy by making rocket fuel. 

– PB

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant