Where will you be? Some areas celebrate differently or with more fervor than others. Mumbai empties out for the most part. Most things are closed and Indians celebrate most holidays with crackers. It's a family-oriented holiday, so a lot of people go to their native places and/or stay indoors until the evening when they go out to blow up their own little chunk of the country. Of course, in a city of 25 million people, you're always going to have some out on the streets or trying to earn a rupee by staying open.