Of every ten firecracker boxes you’d pick up during Diwali, nine of them would contain a label that reads ‘Sivakasi’, a town in Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu. A short thread on this unique town that has been synonymous with Diwali celebration (1/n) 
Sivakasi city alone produces about 90% fire crackers of the nation while providing employment for about 250K people. The city thrived on an industry of making firecrackers and safety matches for almost a century (2/n)
The arid landscape of Sivakasi gets little rainfall, making the place difficult for agriculture and other industries. The city often fell under the grip of extreme drought and famine (3/n)
It all started when two cousins arrived at Calcutta in 1922 with just a few rupees in hand to escape from a famine. After much struggle, they landed a job in a matchstick-manufacturing factory (4/n)
The two brothers returned from Calcutta learning the art of match-making and founded the first factory in Tamil Nadu in 1923. But the industry started booming only when World War 2 put a halt to importing fireworks from UK and Germany (5/n)
Surprisingly, the only other industry that survived in Sivakasi, is printing industry. Majority of the diaries and calendars we receive as gifts around the New Year, are made in Sivakasi (6/n)
The city endured multiple fire incidents, explosions, & child labor issues over the years, but currently the locals, who've been involved in cracker factories for generations are facing an economic crisis as several states have imposed a ban on crackers (7/n)
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