Every year, a week or two after Diwali, my clinic fills up with the same complaints. A cough that refuses to leave. A throat that feels like sandpaper. A child who cannot hear properly after a night with the crackers. Most people tell me, "Doctor, it is just the smoke, it will go." Sometimes it does. Sometimes it does not, and that is exactly when it needs a proper look. fig 1. What I Tell My Patients Every Year What the smoke really does Cracker smoke, and the haze that hang
