[#Society] Diwali without Crackers in Delhi

I have always cherished vivid childhood memories. Most of those are happy and nice; while some are painful. I remember one Diwali which we spent at our grandfather’s house. I was very small at that time. Father was travelling long distance due to work. We were not really poor and I remember enjoying all Diwalis with plenty of firecrackers. But that Diwali was different. So, mother gave a 10 rupee note to one of my uncles and he took me to buy some firecrackers for me. In 10 rupees we could not get much crackers. I got malnourished ‘fuljhadis’, anemic ‘anars’ and rickety ‘rockets’. I felt really humiliated. The walk from the cracker-stall to our home was my ‘walk of shame’. I was very angry then and threw a lot of tantrums, but that did not change a thing. I remember during Diwali night, my rockets did not even go past the three-storied house of our grandfather. Afterwards we started going to the roof to burn rockets, so that the rockets could go a bit higher. What was wrong in that Diwali? Perhaps the ‘wrong’ was also wrong in so many other areas of our life. Firecrackers had become ‘status symbols’. People burned as many as they could afford.

Later when I grew up, I could afford to burn as many crackers as I wanted. But I did not see any value in it. So I burned some of those just for fun. I never went overboard. Growing older, I almost completely stopped burning firecrackers except a few just for name sake. Firecrackers were no longer ‘status symbol’ for me. I did not see value in producing so much smoke, so much noise and so much fuss about those. I think that was some learning.

So when did our festivals turn into occasions to show-off how rich we were? Just think about it.

The first Diwali was a spontaneous natural celebration of the masses upon return of their long separated beloved prince. Lord Ram was returning to Ayodhya with his wife and brother after 14 long years! It was a jubilation. People must have lighted earthen lamps, for there were no candles or electricity at that time. And for sure there were no firecrackers at that time. Gradually, shape and nature of this festival kept changing with the time. But earthen lamps have remained in vogue even after thousands of years since Diwali was first celebrated! Firecrackers came in between. Electric-lighting came in between. These were not the original tradition. And hence doing or not doing these does not make a difference in true tradition.

Diwali or Deepawali is the festival of light. Light as appearing from an earthen lamp. A poor man makes those earthen lamps. The same earthen lamp would be lighted in front of your gods in the temple inside your house. The same earthen lamp would also light in the homes of the poor. There will be no difference in the ‘light’. Just like there is no difference between our ‘souls’, no matter we are poor or rich. Just like the same supreme being resides inside all of us, no matter whether we are rich or poor. Festivals were expected to bring the best in our culture and tradition. Festivals based on our economic status do not bring the best in us.

Diwali is also equally about cleanliness. It is believed that Goddess Lakshmi travels on this night to all homes and if the home is clean and virtuous, she enters it. If home is dirty or inhabited by immoral people, she does not enter. Just look at the surrounding after burning loads of firecrackers. It is disgusting! No Lakshmi can live amidst so much trash, carbon and smoke.

Supreme court has asked to have a cracker-less Diwali this year in Delhi. It is a good step. What is not good is the fact that not burning firecrackers is not going to improve the air quality. And what would improve it is not happening at all. Do we see anything really serious being done to improve air quality? I don’t see any large-scale plantations, any new public parks, gardens, building better roads, increased cleanliness, better disposal of waste, etc. A dog dies on the road and decomposes by the side of it. Garbage including plastic is burnt for hours. Large scale construction happens without any attempt to prevent tons of dust being generated from it for months. Traffic is clogged resulting in so much pollultion. There is no effective and long-term management of pollution apart from cheeky schemes like ‘odd-even’ for a couple of months every year. Is it fair to stop firecrackers in Diwali singling it out as if it is the ultimate solution?

We can also notice the manner in which and for how long courts have started making laws in India. Government often has to behave like an opposition while the court rules us. Something is not right in this whole self-righteous “law making” trend.

Many are angry about why such things are done only against Hindu festivals. There are festivals like Bakri-Id which result in mass scale killing of animals; no court will try to stop it. The reason is an open secret. It is because Hindus are tolerant by nature. Just in a couple of months “New Year” will be celebrated which is a Christian festival. Firecrackers will be burnt all over, but court will not stop it. The fact that the court has tried to stop firecrackers at a Hindu festival is a testimony that we are expected to agree to it. We Hindus are civil, educated, well-mannered people who care about law. Alas, that is not true. Hindus are being made into the ideal citizen and the best of the lot, which we are not. No one is. So better make us an ideal citizen by educating us; instead of forcing a law on us.

That is the way I see it.

- Rahul Tiwary