What I Dislike About Diwali in Mumbai
Crackers. Need I say more? I probably don’t need to but I will because I’m in the mood to rant.
Diwali is supposed to be a heartwarming and peaceful Festival of Lights. Instead, in Mumbai, it’s a festival of noise. Noise louder than 100 decibels. Noise, with bomb crackers crossing more than 145 decibels . Last Diwali, I had to go out in the street near where we lived and one went off next to my ear. I realised what was going to happen, and put my hand over my ear to protect it. Yet, I still suffered ear damage and was half deaf for a day. The experience left me feeling extremely disturbed for weeks.
I tried to forget about the cracker noise, and get excited about celebrating Diwali this year. Tried to focus on the special meaning of the occasion. I seemed to have succeeded, as I was looking forward to dressing up in a new sari and going to the family puja today. It even appeared that some progress was being made to restrict the noise, with the Supreme Court banning loud crackers and capping permissible noise limits .
However, the last couple of days, I’ve been a bit stressed about various things. Then, last night, I had insomnia. I was still awake at 4.30 a.m., despite feeling exhausted and going to bed before midnight. I finally fell asleep, only to be woken early this morning by crackers. Kids bursting them in the courtyard outside my bedroom window. It went on for most of the morning. And yes, there were plenty of bomb crackers too, despite them apparently being banned.
I’m tired, grumpy, and once again feeling disturbed. I refuse to leave the house because I don’t want to subject myself to crackers going off everywhere, all over the roads I have to walk on. Sadly, I won’t be celebrating Diwali with family as planned. Diwali is completely ruined for me because of the cracker noise. I’m simply very sensitive to it, am not used to it, and can’t deal with it. There is nothing peaceful about Diwali in Mumbai.
My concerns about the crackers aside, the noise pollution also injures birds and animals. And disturbs babies and the elderly. If you need more reasons as to why I hate crackers, have a read of this blog . Tens of thousands of children work in cracker factories, and risk their lives in the process. Many get horribly burned and scarred. Just look at the pictures!
I’m still trying to figure out what is the attraction to noise in this country? What is the joy in making explosive sounds all day and night? Thankfully, people are becoming educated as to the harmful effects of crackers. So many more remain carelessly oblivious though. They’re just not interested.
I wonder, is the bursting of crackers just going to be another thing that’s almost impossible to change — like the throwing of rubbish, and men relieving themselves in the full view of everyone?
Why I Dislike Celebrating Diwali?
Filed under: Social — Leave a comment November 8, 2010
The festival of lights….err…smoke…err….lights and smoke…and noise just went by. It is safe to say that it is India’s favourite festival, one that is being celebrated for thousands of years. While I do not wish in any way that this great tradition ceases from existing, I very much question the manner in which this tradition has taken shape in the 21st century.
I am an Agnostic, so celebrating religious festivals isn’t my idea anyway, but who doesn’t like to see excitement and joy, and I love this festive season too. Business is good, share market is over 21000 points, workers get bonuses, outstation employees disappear to be with their families and so on. But lets look at the grim side. Here are the reservations I have about Diwali celebrations:
1. Noise and Smoke: When Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya, neither were there ‘smoke emitting fuljhaddis’ nor were there deafening ‘rassi bombs’. For the last 10 years I have been reading before the onset of Diwali about governments decision to ban these deafening bombs. Yet each year they are there, louder than ever. In this era of air and noise pollution, I doubt if God would be very happy that we use his name to dirty his creation. The smoke emitted by the fire crackers is so toxic that if one inhales the fumes, he would end up coughing for half an hour. Also, it amazes me as to how man has just zero consideration for the other living objects around it. Ask the birds and the other animals who unfortunately have to dwelve in our cities about their take on Diwali. Each time a bombs goes off, the poor birds and animals panic. Countless numbers die. But who cares, let’s celebrate Lord Ram’s homecoming.
2. Time Deadline: Just like the government’s claim about banning those deafening bombs, for the last many years there is a 10 pm deadline for bursting fire crackers. Yesterday, which wasn’t even the main Diwali day, people were bursting fire crackers till nearly midnight. What about the many old people who are trying to sleep and cannot rest thanks to this stupidity?
3. Other Communities: For 3-4 days, there are non stop fire crackers that are burst, much to the annoyance of the lakhs of non-Hindu who stay in India and have very little to do with Diwali. It is their right to have a peaceful environment, at least after 10 pm. I support the Singaporean model that no ‘religious activity/celebration’ can happen outside your house. So the Muslims should stop screaming at 5 am to wake god up, and the Hindus should stop bursting fire crackers at 11 pm to welcome Lord Ram.
4. Power Consumption: One of the most debt ridden states in India, Maharashtra has to anyway import power to meet its normal needs (even that it is unable to). During Diwali, thousands of megawatts of energy is wasted in useless illuminations. People even insist of keeping all lights in their house lit because it is the festival of light. The farmer in Vidarbha has to pay for this celebration, bearing the brunt of 16 hours of load shedding on an average.
5. Child Labour: The world knows that all these firecrackers are made by children in extremely disturbing and hazardous conditions, in Sivakasi and other locations. Instead of wasting money and hurting the environment by using these products, we must boycott them so that the children are not compelled to play with their lives for a meagre daily wage.
6. Wastage of Food: A lot of food is wasted during this season, which could have been used to feed the country’s poor for whom Diwali has no meaning. Apart from this, excessive sweets and fatty food stuffs hurt the general public’s health, not to mention the widespread adulteration that occurs during Diwali.
Diwali Ya Diwala?
You got it right. I hate Diwali. Of course, I am a self respecting Indian, Hindu etc etc. but I abhor this so called festival of lights. It's more like the festival of smoke and explosions, methinks.
There are various reasons why they celebrate this festival - in the northern parts of this country, they say that Lord Rama came home after fourteen long years of exile with his wife Sita - to celebrate his return, the people of Ayodhya lit the city up with lights - diyas and deepams. Beautiful, that sight must have been, if you ask me. I adore diyas, little clay lamps with oil and a bright flame dancing on the wick, often set on rangolis, those floor designs with colours that liven them up.
In the south, primarily in Tamil Nadu, they celebrate the slaying of the demon Narakasura by Lord Krishna with lamps. Diwali also marks the beginning of the winters. My grandma says that the real reason why they light all those lamps at this time is to kill insects. Apparently, a lot of swallows and other insects are born in the season of receding monsoons and become quite a menace - come Diwali, we light lamps and these insects get attracted to the flame and hurl themselves, in a final act of impulse, straight into the flames. Dead. I love my grandma's stories.
Somewhere down the line, some idiot invented fire crackers - don't get me entirely wrong now. I love those chakkars and anaars (fountain...?) and those phuljharis etc. They are fun, look pretty, mostly noiseless too. I also adore those fireworks in the sky and I can look at those for hours.
But fire crackers...those inanely useless bombs, Lakshmi bombs and Gorilla bombs and the likes, just what use are they? Narakasura is dead so the sound isn't going to kill him. Lord Rama would go scuttling back into his quiet and peaceful exile in the forest if he heard one of those bombs explode. And no insect is dying to high decibel levels I am sure - I don't think they can hear either - blissfully deaf.
So what purpose are those bombs serving? They are heart-wrenchingly, ear-splittingly, nerve-wrackingly painful when they set off and I am sure if I were old and suffering from hypertension or heart disease or one of those things, I would by now be on my way to heaven or hell or wherever it is that we go to when we die.
I hope those monstrosities are officially banned - they contribute to sound pollution, they can make you go deaf too, and by the way, they almost shattered my window with the impact.
Which is why, I have a new agenda. Every Diwali, I will travel to either Jammu & Kashmir, North East of India or Kerala. Apparently, these places aren't big on celebrating Diwali and while other parts of my nation spend time welcoming Rama and worshipping Krishna and killing monsoon flies, I can go grab my share of peace and quiet and come back once the pandemonium passes.
Umm-e-Zainab tum baaz nahinn aaooo giii !
