Deepavali

The grandest festival celebrated in India: Deepavali. Fondly referred to as the festival of lights. Unfortunately, the grandeur associated with this festival is falling short in cities. City slickers are far removed from the roots of their religion and hence view it with disfavour. To office goers, all deepavali means is a two day holiday. People don't seem to appreciate this festival as much as they should.

Here are the main reasons people give to not celebrate deepavali:
1. Bursting crackers causes pollution.
2. I don't believe in festivals.

I'll address point no. 2 first. All humans celebrate festivals. For instance, did you know that Olympics was originally a festival of the Greeks? Now it is celebrated the world over. By watching the sporting events, you are celebrating a festival. All sports started as festivals. The icing on the cake is, if you're into sports, you are celebrating someone else's festival while scorning your own. And you probably do not know how Deepavali originated.

Deepavali is our festival to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. To many, it now symbolizes the triumph of Lord Rama over Ravana, but there are other roots for the festival too. If Deepavali was westernized, it would be the celebration of the end of WWII and all that it symbolized: triumph of the Allies against the Axis of Evil, a victory for democracy over fascism and nazism. And the ones you see mocking our religion now would probably celebrate such a festival, blindly imitating the west.

Anyway, if you really do not believe in any festival, why don't you work during festival days. Decline your company's holidays and go to work. If you don't believe in festivals, why act like you do and waste productive time mocking those who do.

Some say bursting crackers causes pollution and therefore we should not indulge in it. Fine. Your electricity usage causes pollution too, so how about living in a hut with no lights, fan or AC? (Electricity is produced by thermal power plants which burn coal as a fuel. This releases black smoke which settles over the surrounding area and also pollutes the land).

There is, however, a rational argument against bursting crackers which I concede. You say it is unnecessary pollution which can be avoided. I'll accept this viewpoint, but also show you why I differ.

Firstly, there is no such thing as 'necessary pollution'. Pollution for economic development is a westernized idea, which we have blindly accepted without question. You don't really need to go to shopping malls to shop, or buy products wrapped in fancy plastics. Those things pollute, but you accept it saying it as a part of development. You can argue over this, but that sparks an entirely different debate so I'll present another idea to support my view.

The per capita pollution of the developed nations is the highest in the world. Here's a simple equation to put that in perspective.

More money= more purchasing power
More purchasing power=more consumption
Consumption=Pollution

Also, if you look at pollution statistics, you can see that basically every activity pollutes, directly or indirectly. A Google search releases as much as 7g of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And there are millions of Google searches being made every day. Now THAT is pollution.

Volcanic eruptions cause massive pollution and they occur very frequently (if you count the ones which occur underwater too). Plus, factor in the pollution caused by all the wars going on in the world now.

Now, think over this: Does all this pollution caused all over the world make you happy? No. Will enjoying a spectacular fireworks display with your family to celebrate an auspicious occasion symbolizing the triumph of good over evil make you happy? You answer the question.

Don't be fooled into giving up your happiness for the sake of the environment.

Have a happy (and safe) Deepavali :)

Update: The air pollution levels were down in Chennai this time. Also, the noise pollution levels were down. The change was apparently due to the preference for aerial fireworks as opposed to the 'vedis'. These were splendorous, comparatively environment-friendly, more interesting to watch: a win-win scenario in all.