Dipawali : Time to run away??

India is known as the 'Land of festivals'. Perhaps the most widely celebrated among them is Diwali, also known as Dipawali - The festival of Lights.

A festival celebrated by the rich and poor, by the young and the old - across the country to lighten up their lives. It symbolizes unity in diversity, as each of the Indian states celebrates it - in its own special way. An exemption is Kerala, where Dipawali is not a major festival. It is celebrated only in some areas of the state or by people of a certain community.

I love seeing the firecracker's explode in the sky, splashing different colors, lightening up the entire sky. To watch the night sky on the eve of Dipawali is a treat to the eyes. Children often compete to to crack the crackers that go boom, bang and vroom. It's a tough competition and families pour in money to buy crackers. In the area where I live, I know families who spend 50-60k for the crackers.

Now, isn't that too much? Instead of burning crackers for such high amounts, they can provide food for the needy. The houses in my area spends money in lakhs for the crackers. Result : Never ending explosions. It's fun in the beginning, but as the crackers go off, the fun ceases. The decibel level of the crackers are too high that you almost start thinking are you in a war or not. No wonder why Mallu's like me run away. Keralites are not used to such high level noise pollution and can hardly bear it.

There are references in the `puranas' on the importance of fire as a source of light during night, and of sound doing the job of identification in the absence of light. `Diyas' and fireworks therefore symbolise the significance of light and sound in human life. These beliefs should be followed, but not at the cost of human lives and grief in place of happiness.

A shift from deafening crackers to delightful sparklers is always welcome. A possible solution is having limits on the decibel levels for crackers and banning the sale of those that exceed it. In my area, compared with the previous years, less crackers went off. Government has been trying to create awareness about noise pollution through the media. Sadly, even people who know the rules do not care to follow them. It is high time that people should discipline themselves. One good thing I can say about Dipawali is that I get to eat lot of sweets :)

It's the festival time and most of the seats, even in the IT sector is empty. The traffic seems to have lessened over the couple of days. Perhaps, this would change tomorrow. May be, some would decide to stay over for a few more days and return. Obtaining a ticket to get back to Chennai seems to be a herculean task... whoo...look at the waiting list in trains from several destinations.

It's safe to stay indoors during Dipawali. People are buying and cracking unbranded Firecrackers. On last Wednesday, the police arrested 16 people for selling Firecrackers on the road. The unbranded firecrackers is a risky business and one should be extremely careful.

As always, we also get to see a lot of really careless people who are having fun on the roads. How can you ever forgive someone who goes on setting fire to crackers which explodes at high decibels, that too in front of a hospital? People seem to become insane. Think of a heart patient who is undergoing treatment. Ride in a two wheeler and if you are not careful, you would get hit by a cracker that is being thrown aimed at passing by vehicles.

Walk around any street and you can find many-a-chain of crackers. They set it up for about 30m in length?? Imagine, once it starts, it goes on and on and on. It's the festive season.. who cares about safety, public convenience, other's health? no one.

Crackers, if used sparingly and carefully, are a source of enjoyment. But ignorance, carelessness, negligence and recklessness invite trouble. May be people would start valuing life if cracker mishaps and Diwali accidents happen and media gives enough coverage.

The crackers and fireworks that we burst and light for a few hours of pleasure are the result of many months of toil of poor children who work in hazardous conditions for meagre wages. By saying no to crackers, we can at least mitigate child labour, if not eradicate it completely.