Gurugram, Oct. 20 -- It was supposed to be a "green" Diwali in Gurugram, the kind with NEERI-certified crackers, two-hour bursting windows, and promises of clean celebration. Instead, the Gadoli cracker market on Diwali eve told a very different story. Stalls overflowed with smoke, streets jammed with honking cars, and banned fireworks were sold openly as enforcement looked the other way.

Standing amid bursting anars and the thick smell of sulphur, it was clear that law and order had taken the night off. The air reeked not of festivity but of negligence. "Dikhane ke liye green hai, chalane ke liye asli hai," one shopkeeper said with a grin. (They look green, but they burst like the real ones.) His stall, like many others, displayed "GREE...