Mankind has always held a fascination for fire – well, at least till the time electricity was discovered. It is a very vivid display of energy and power – the power to destroy and reduce to ashes. The real strength of fire is in its ability to grow in magnitude by consuming the very things that it destroys. As per Indian traditional thought, it is also the only element that purifies without itself being impure. Taming of fire was perhaps one of the first decisive advantages that our species gained over others. It enabled us to keep predators at bay, to clear forests to make space for settlements and agriculture. Even the extraction and refinement of metals as well as their further fabrication would not have been possible without learning to control fire.

What, exactly, is fire? We know it to be an exothermic chemical reaction that takes place either in the gaseous state, or hot gaseous products, which emit electromagnetic radiation in in the visible spectrum. Yeah, more than any reaction, it is oxidation that goes by the name of combustion, which we see as fire. I don’t know if it was the visual splendor or the power behind it that attracted me, but as a child loved playing with fire. Perhaps, I do it even now.

One way of controlling fire which I took pride in, was spraying inflammable alcohol based perfumes onto a flame, and it would look like you’re spraying fire. The spray of fire would actually go beyond the flame, and you can use it to burn bits of paper at a small distance using this weapon of mass destruction. It’s a dangerous thing to do, so I wouldn’t advise anybody to try it out except at their own risk. Every great power comes with a great risk, you see.

Another manifestation of fire, which is beautiful and unique, though not as powerful, is what I used to call “drops of fire”. The rubber remains of a burst balloon and a matchbox or lighter is all we need for this show. Hang the piece of rubber from a rod or a hook, and light its lower tip. You can see drops of burning rubber trickling down. It’s quite a sight to behold. If you really want more fun, take absolute care and rotate the burning piece of rubber about a rod to which you can attach it. This way, you can end drops of fire flying all around. Again, no amount of care and caution will be excessive if you really decide to try this out.

I liked fire so much, that I thought fire can do magic. I used to try burning different stuff, hoping to discover something interesting and practically significant. Most of my test subjects were elementary and easily available sustances such as banana peel, which I thought would have been overlooked by professional scientists in their research. Till date, I have not discovered anything exquisite, but may be it is because I quit experimenting many years ago. If you’re going to try out something, all the very best!