ShashwatDiwali is like the most fun festival we have here in India. It has been a part of our childhood, carving it with lights and sounds and fireworks on the sky.
From waiting the entire day for evening to arrive and getting a drive around town to see the most amazing light decorations on the houses to helping Maa clean the house with whatever your little hands could do and waiting for elders to arrive to slowly whisper to them it’s finally time to get those crackers!
The lights, the diyas, the candles, the fireworks – that is what Diwali has always been to us – to me, at least.
We light diyas, place them on our walls, rooms and staircases. We pull out some amazing lights to make our house look even more prettier as the small light bulbs attached together dangle from the balcony. We get dressed in our best traditional attires. We have a Pooja. And we burst crackers!
As you read the last point, some of you might have made weird faces, right? 'Cause apparently bursting crackers on Diwali is like the prime reason for pollution, global warming, climate change and maybe even the reason why someone's grandma is now unalive four blocks away.
Diwali, as per some intellectuals, is the only reason why cities are dying from pollution, why people can’t breathe the fresh air or why the AQI level of some cities has gone way overboard.
Just these few days of celebrations is causing millions of deaths. Right? Not a war, not the billion vehicles, not population, not any political drama. Just a festival.
Maybe that is the case. Maybe that’s the reason behind all the deaths, all the pollution and everything in between.
No matter people burst crackers on New Years’ Eve, World Cup Celebrations, etc. No matter the factories have all been rapidly throwing up that black ghoul-y smoke all day long. No matter the roads in some cities have been trying their very best to hold on the number of cars that keeps on increasing every minute. No, all that doesn’t matter. Only Diwali does!
And do not get me wrong, I am aware that various unhealthy or harmful chemicals are used in making of those crackers and when we burst them, these chemicals are left in the surroundings, which could be really harmful for our health. And that is not what I am complaining about.
What I want to say is why only in Diwali people come out and state such stuff like banning crackers for these days could solve all their problems!
Why Diwali?
Why does the court comes forward to banning fireworks only when Diwali is close and no one bats an eye when the same happens all year round?
We all have heard the news, seen the stats and everything. We know burning crackers rises the AQI, but it also comes back down to the way it was within a few days.
Their reason: “’cause Diwali witnesses a large number of people bursting those crackers at the same time.” Yes it does. So does having non-EV, traditional vehicles all stranded together in hours of traffic – excreting some of the most smoky dragons outta their arses (and that too not just for a few days).
It can never be the most prioritized reason why you ban crackers on Diwali just to make sure you rid the world with pollution? That’s dumb!
We would all just play along if it was a gradual effort. Not a random thing that comes into being every year, at the same time.
Why not gradually stop the industry? Why not stop bursting of crackers for all other festivities? Why not focus more on reducing the other more important aspects of the increasing AQI levels in some big cities? Why only Diwali?
We have all grown with Diwali being one of the most fun times of the year. The feeling of getting hands on the most incredible charkhis, anaars, rockets and bombs.
What I am trying to say with this blabber today, is that I do not want the kids today to not have that. To not have the sense or feeling that celebrating Diwali gave us as a kid.
Alternatives
If you want to ban crackers due to their harmful chemicals, ban those. If a door is not working, it’s not possible to just destroy the door once and for all, right? We can find another way.
What’s that other way, you ask?
Eco-Friendly or Green Crackers!
Eco-friendly or Green Firecrackers are a more environment conscious alternative to the traditional firecrackers. These are designed to produce less pollution and contain fewer harmful chemicals.
Benefits of Green Crackers:
- Reduced Pollution: Green Crackers along with being almost 35% less polluting, they also release water vapor which acts as a dust suppressant and dilutes gaseous emissions.
- No ash: Green crackers, unlike the traditional ones, do not leave back ash.
- Lower sound level: Green crackers have a significantly lower decibel sound range when compared to traditional crackers.
- Less harmful material: These are made of less harmful materials and do not contain the ones that are harmful or dangerous like: lithium, arsenic, barium or lead, etc.
Other few alternatives to burning traditional firecrackers on Diwali could be:
- Floating Lanterns
- Glow Sticks
- Confetti Cannons
With Green Fireworks, we can still get those fun vibes back and give those feelings to our kids too. They deserve to enjoy what Diwali meant to us during childhood. They deserve to burn crackers. There must be a limit to everything, of course. As they say “overdoing anything is not healthy“.
Conclusion
Limiting stuff is cool. Banning it altogether, might also be cool. But every damn year, people in their houses coming online or on the streets shouting their lungs out or tapping their fingers on the touchscreens of their mobile phones saying banning crackers is the most important thing to do – are stupid! And that is all this post has to say.
Thank you!
