Deepavali - The Festival of Lights

 Once upon a time…

The house smelt of caramel, some sweet in the making. After a quick offering to the Divine, mom gave the sweet to her. The 8-year-old observed it closely, smelt it intently trying to figure out what has gone into the making of the sweet (yes, I mean the ingredients). She decides to stop worrying about the ingredients and swallows the piece in one go. Some more please!!! Goes the little girl. Now, it was time to raid the containers stocked with savouries.   

It was time to go out and play. The girl makes a mental note of all the things she was to share with her friends about the preparations for the fast approaching Deepavali. The new clothes (her dress is still lying at the tailoring shop, waiting to be collected), her parents’ new clothes and the nitty-gritties of shopping for the new clothes (which bus they took, how crowded was the bus, which shop they purchased the clothes from, and the hotel they had their dinner in – the word restaurant was not popular back then), and not to forget the list of crackers to be discussed and finalised with friends.

Waking up early, getting ready for the celebrations and bursting the first cracker were all life-time dream those days.

All kids who grew up in the 1980s in India, or should I say in Tamil Nadu, would relate to the scenes narrated above.

In the 2000s

Things have changed (yes, Change is the only permanent)/Times are changing. The house doesn’t smell of caramel anymore. The store-bought sweet boxes welcome the child that returns from school. There are restrictions on the polluting firecrackers. Children are taught about the harmful effects of the firecrackers on the “otherwise unpolluted and serene environment”!!!.

With passing of time, we have conveniently forgotten the amount of vehicular pollution generated every day, the amount of water wasted on creating fashionable clothes (what is it called? Fast Fashion, is it?) and not to mention, the humungous amount of e-waste created by the tech savvy.

Some one please help me understand how a 2-day celebration surpasses all other factors contributing to pollution put together.

1.       Now all of us (ok!! ok!! most of us) own at least one two-wheeler, one four-wheeler which was a rarity in the pre-2K era.
2.       Electrical/Electronic consumer durables and gadgets are all over the place increasing electricity consumption multi-folds, now.
3.       Fast fashion was unheard of in the 1980s and 1990s.
4.         Innumerable plastic items consumed all 365 days, all over the world.
5.          Irrational consumption and wastage of food leading to unmanageable waste generation throughout the year

 (To list out a few contributors)

Why blame only Deepavali celebrations for the pollution created. It’s absolutely fine if Deepavali celebrations contribute to pollution for two days as against the other 365-day polluters.

Now, folks…. that was a banter from the sands of time.

Let Deepavali celebrations be not buried in the sands of time and I would celebrate it the way I have always….!!!

(All of us have opinions and I have my set of opinions too… Bytes from Sands of Time reflect mine and this piece is an antithesis on the celebrations these days !!!)

Thanks for reading, dear friends

                                           Happy Deepavali dear all

                                                                                                                                        Priya