my aglakadam

Diwali – The sound of success and the light of happiness October 22, 2011

The sound of success and the light of happiness

The best part of our country India is that it is a land of celebrations and festivals. Celebrations are the most effective de-stressing events. Festivals are events where friends and relatives mingle with one another. These joyful moments add love and commitment to relationships. Children get introduced to the traditions and subsequently the  rituals get rolled over to subsequent generations.

A scene which I detest during festival days is that of the heaps of trash lying unaddressed on the streets. Meeta (assumed name of a homemaker) was very enthusiastic about Deepawali celebrations. She had loads of work to do before the festival. Not just the preparation of sweets and purchase of new cloths, major portion of her routine schedule was allocated towards cleanliness & housekeeping. A dirt free home is the wish of almost every family.  Even Meeta had arranged to sterilize her house. While her house was being cleaned all the garbage was getting abandoned into the nearby street. Litter generated inside house got dumped on the road side. This speaks about shortsightedness, “My house should be clean inside it does not matter if there is garbage outside”. Such individuals who demonstrate absolute lack of social responsibility should be condemned.  

Come deepawali and multifarious kind of crackers can be found creating noise pollution round the clock. The fireworks have become an almost integral part of this auspicious festival. It’s no more only the kids who have fun out of fireworks, it’s the grownups who play it more. Not many are aware that as per law it is banned to fire crackers with more than 125 decibel at four meter distance. Further there is a time limit beyond which one is not allowed to fire sound creating crackers. Insensitive and unlawful people do not bother about these rules. One can always expect ear deafening mid night blasts on the festival days. Their enjoyment seems to be more in breaking these rules and less in enjoying the festival.

I really get disquiet thinking how dreaded the new born babies would be in the birth centers or maternities on the day of sound and fireworks. Sometimes there are chances that this cacophony can even hurt a fetus in the womb. As a responsible citizen of this society we should be sensitive to these situations. If there is a hospital around or sick people in the neighborhood we should restrain from using high decibel crackers. The high level of noise generated by the crackers cause immense suffering not just human beings but also to birds and animals. Excessive noise can sometimes even cause hearing loss, high blood pressure or heart attack!

There is one sad angle to these crackers, few of us would know that the firecrackers which we use are mostly made by very young children in the factories. These child labours work under extreme unhygienic conditions and a continuous life threat. Since the substances being handled are extremely toxic many of these children get sick. The repercussions are absolutely fetal for these teenagers.

The fun and joy of watching the firecrackers is temporary. Permanent is the air pollution derived out of these crackers. Before bursting crackers for Diwali think twice and enlighten yourself towards the hazards that boisterous celebrations poses to our environment.  The toxic substances used in the firecrackers releases noxious gases which are harmful to the health of all living beings.  The heavy smoke is particularly harmful for eye, asthma & heart patients. Careless use of crackers in the vicinity of combustible and inflammatory things can cause serious fire accidents.  

It’s worth quoting an illustrious example which I observed last year at the time of holi festival. There was a death in the neighborhood and the families around in the colony decided not to have grand celebrations but limit to a modest event. Only children played with colours in the nearby garden while the senior members of the society gathered at the bereaved family’s house and exhibited their commitment to stand by them even in times of sorrow.

Finally a question to ponder over: what happens on the next day of firing millions of crackers? The streets get clattered with non degradable waste of cracker remains which further harms the environment. Recycling of this waste does not happen for ages. Diwali should be celebrated as a festival of light and not just sound. If at al there has to be a sound it should be the sound of success – a message conveying the victory of good over evil. There should be the theme of purity in the heart and not just cleanliness on the floor. Message here is to celebrate diwali and have as much fun as possible but with equal consideration for everyone and everything around. May the light of hope and happiness spread around this Diwali.

LESSONS FOR EXCELLENCE :

• Plan to enjoy festival but do respect the well being rights of other people in the society.
• Cleanliness at home is not enough, one should be clean at hear too.
• Diwali is the festival of light, not the festival of sound.
• In the event of fire, extinguish the flame by pouring water. Remember, every major fire is small when it starts.
• Celebrate Diwali with the sound of success and the light of happiness.

Feedback : Ajit Varwandkar

Email : md@fsindia.in