A careful Vishu morning in a Kerala courtyard

Vishu morning is crowded. Cousins arrive, children are excited after the kaineettam, and everyone wants to light something at once. Most accidents we hear about each April come from that rush, not from the crackers themselves. A little planning keeps the morning calm.

Choose the place the night before. A Kerala courtyard is usually ideal: open sky, a hard floor and room to stand back. Move two-wheelers, dried leaves, coconut fronds and the plastic chairs to one side. Keep the kani room, the nilavilakku and any thatched or tarpaulin roof well away from where you light.

Set out a bucket of water and a bucket of sand before the first box is opened. Dress children in cotton, not synthetic, and keep dupattas and mundu ends tucked in. Light with a long kambithiri or an incense stick at arm’s length, never with a matchbox held over the cracker, and step back at once.

Put one adult in charge of each group of children, and light one item at a time. Small kambithiri are for the youngest; mathappu and chakram are for older children with an adult beside them; padakkam, sky shots and vaanam are for adults only. If something does not light, leave it for fifteen minutes and then drop it into the water bucket. Never bend over it or relight it. Afterwards, soak used sparkler wires and spent shells in water before sweeping up, and keep pets indoors until the smoke has cleared.