India, April 24 -- Virudhunagar, a dry district in southern Tamil Nadu tucked into the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, has always lived with uncertainty. Agriculture has never been dependable here, and survival has long depended on adaptation. It is from this landscape that Sivakasi emerged, a town of dust and heat that went on to become India's fireworks capital, producing nearly 90 per cent of the country's crackers and anchoring a Rs 6,000 crore industry that lights up festivals from Dussehra to Diwali. But beneath this spectacle runs a darker continuity. Virudhunagar is no longer just a production hub. It has steadily come to be known, quietly and uneasily, as a place where explosions are routine, and death is built into the process...