It's one 'war' nobody misses in Saurashtra

RAJKOT: The youth are in combat mode, taking positions behind rocks, grouping and dispersing only to get back into a huddle as flares light up the sky and thundering sounds rock the open area.
War cries are mingle with cries of joy. And as you get a feeling of walking in a war zone, a friendly hand is extended and someone greets you Happy Diwali’, even as he ducks to save himself from a flying “missile�.
In Savar-Kundla of Amreli district and Jetpur in Rajpur, “cracker combat� takes on war-like proportions on Diwali night as youths gather in groups to hurl crackers at each other.This tradition began here eight decades ago. Every year, people gather on the opposite banks of Navli river that separates Savar and Kundla villages. It is a wellfought “war� where the group that manages to drive the other away is declared the winner.
“Known as ‘ingoria,’ these crackers are prepared by scooping out the contents of fruits and stuffing them with gun powder and other ingredients,� says Nilesh Chauhan, a resident of Savar-Kundla.
Come Navratri and every home in these two villages turns into a small factory, with people keeping up all night, preparing and stocking up crackers for the D-day.
The “cracker-combat� or “ingoria ramat�, as it is known locally, will keep thousands of people engrossed on Diwali night at areas like Manibhai Chowk, Devda Gate, Nadi Bazaar and Gandhi Chowk of Savar-Kundla.
“It’s all fun and nobody is serious while ‘fighting’. No one has ever filed a police complaint even if they have been hurt,� says 25-yearold Chandresh Soni, who has been participating in the game for the last 10 years.
Chandresh’s father, Jitendra, 55, too has been an avid participant in the “ingoria ramat�. “I never missed a single combat when I was young. Though I do not participate anymore today, I make it a point to remain present there every year to cheer my team,� says Jitendra Soni.
In Jetpur, the Bhadar river divides the two people, out in their “war costume, baying for blood�. But enmity is the last thing on their mind, each youth bent on making the “combat� a memorable one. As crackers are hurled across the river, people who throng the riverbank and sit on temple steps, cheer.
Residents of Jetpur admit that some accidents have led to the intensity of the game being reduced.
“But we can never think of stopping it. It is our identity now and we play with a lot of caution now,� says Kaushal Vora, a resident of Jetpur.
And it’s one “war� nobody ever misses in Savar-Kundla and Jetpur. “My work makes me travel a lot across the globe. But if it is Diwali time and my village prepares for this game, I crave to get back home. There has hardly been a Diwali that I have not spent here,� says Rajiv Kamani, a customer relationship manager with a multi-national pharmaceutical company.