It was the April the 20th when we were on the road once again (The last one being Vegas in Dec 2012). Asish da, Sukanya di, Anamitra, Ipsita and I. It was the "Fireworks at Louisville" we were hoping to witness. Later on we came to know it is called - Thunder Over Louisville. What is it? One kick-ass show of fire works over the Ohio river in Louisville (Yes, the very same Louisville as Md. Ali) to mark the beginning of the Kentucky Derby. The city is about 80 miles away from Lexington. Not that far, ya, but after a long time, it was good to be in a vehicle shooting itself at 85mph on a highway of 70 as limit. It did not even take one audio CD to reach there.
Upon reaching, and fortunately getting a parking at a not-so-far-we-can-easily-walk distance, we sat ourselves out to find a spot on the river bank. It was just a small walk but it presented me with a few clickable moments. The more I walked, the more felt like walking. Among the few advantages of staying in a crowded city (talking about Kolkata here) is people have a feeling that the crowd is their camouflage, nobody is noticing them and as a result, they tend to be more themselves. And after a point in history, the city grows on its own, building new milestones, more distinctness on the top of the traits it stood has survived the harsh times (still talking about Kolkata). I have heard stories about New York and many people (read Bongs) draw an analogy of it with dear old Kolkata. Crowd, noise, urban culture. Loiseville (Now I am back to talking about Lousiville), is neither a Kolkata nor a New York but walking on its streets for not even a mile took me back to my habit of roaming the streets of Kolkata - looking everything in black and white.
There were airshows performed by war veterans and their airplanes. It was totally spectacular to watch the trails of smoke they were making on that clear sky. Not that the shows were the most exciting thing that kept kept me on my feet the whole time, but they were the perfect example of synchronous team work. Being in a profession where we need to work with various teams to achieve results, it surely helps to appreciate how seamlessly and beautifully the show is performed - something that can go tragically wrong with just one piece out of place.
Our party (now, more than just five of us) found a convenient spot by the bank and thanks to Sukanya di, the pavement had a sheet spread on it with our bags working as pillows. Believe it or not, the fireworks were due not earlier than 930 in the night, but we had grabbed our spot by 130 in the afternoon. It was not summer yet and the wind still had that winter-ness in it, so I decided to just lay back on the pavement and enjoy the smooth heat. And to be bored in a single place has its own reward (like - the opportunity to capture the joy on this boy's face looking at those bubbles).
Finally, it was 930 in the night and the voices all around were now of "behold". And then, it started. There were sounds, very loud sounds, but none of them were from the crowd of half a million people gathered on both sides of the river. For a little less than 30 mins, it went on, non-stop. White, green, red, even more red, yellow with green, white with red, and every other possible colour an ignited combination of chemicals could possibly take.
And, if something the firework show proved, it was the point that, darkness is not exactly the opposite of light, it is something that the light needs to keep existing, to remain beautiful, spectacular, mesmerizing.
Till next time,
cheers!
