#greendeepawali- why? how?

In the last few years, I have been hearing a lot of talk on boycott of crackers during Diwali or Deepawali. There have been a lot of Whats App forwards, videos endorsing “green Diwali” on the social media. Schools have been doing their bit in promoting the cause of an “environment friendly” Diwali to their students. Our little kids, armed with their new found “gyan” on Diwali have been educating their parents and grand-parents that Diwali is a festival of “lights and happiness” and “lights and happiness” have nothing to do with those sound and air polluting crackers.

Till last year, I did not take these Whats App forwards, these videos, this “gyan” on “green Diwali” seriously and went ahead with buying and firing crackers. I would look up and gaze at the sky. I loved how the sky lit up with thousands of sparkles! It is so cheering to see, so exciting to participate.

But this year, more people are denouncing crackers. I was stumped when a teenaged girl I met while I was lighting crackers, told me that she did not “want” to light any crackers. Her demeanor shrieked out that the rest of us were doing something really evil.  I decided to do some serious research into why more and more people are denouncing Diwali crackers.

I googled and googled. I thought I would get some real solid statistics on the levels of SO2 , NO2 or RSPM in the air because of Diwali firecrackers. But except some news articles and presentations  on some residential areas having high RSPM (that too without the numeric figures), I could hardly find anything. Then I tried on the sound pollution aspect. I learnt that the maximum permissible limit for the crackers sound emission is usually pegged at 115 decibels in India which seems fair enough as a rock concert’s average emission is 115 decibels. I could not find any statistics on the sound pollution created though I did find out that some of our Diwali bombs emit up to 122 decibels, but sample checks are done by the authorities to ensure compliance.

I did not see any statistics that convinced me that the noise and pollutants emitted by crackers at Diwali is significantly higher than the regular lowly maintained public transport vehicles. So I started looking for other reasons- I was convinced that I had to be convinced about cracker-less Diwali. So, I tried the hazardous industry angle. I was in for a surprise. I read that the highest ranking hazardous job is agriculture! I just could not believe it. Then I remembered Sivakasi,in Tamil Nadu, the place which employed child labour to produce fireworks. I had seen a documentary on the workers of Sivakasi. A report by Shubh Bharadwaj in 1989, reported on the child labour and poor safety practices in Sivakasi. It’s really condemnable and just for this one reason, I wanted to boycott crackers. But then I found that on the same grounds I would have to boycott match-sticks and incense sticks too, as it is a parallel industry and employs very high child labour. I would have to boycott diamonds too- it is the diamond industry in India which ranks first in employing child labour. According to a paper co-published by ILO, in India’s diamond industry, about 1 in a 100 workers was a child. In the unorganized sector, in zari and embroidery industry there are a large number of child labourers.

I did not get anywhere with my research, so I thought I would find out what is India’s rank in terms of the display of fireworks. I assumed it would be a good first or second, considering the amount of energy people are expending to control fireworks. But surprise, surprise! I could not find India. The first is Washington DC with its 4^th of July fireworks. There are San Francisco, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Norway. But alas! No India. This finding led me on and I tried to find out  how many countries have a tradition of fireworks like we do. Here are the snippets of what I found on the world wide web:

Commonly known as the Fourth of July, Independence Day in the USA sees Americans celebrating their independence from the British Empire in 1776, with immense fireworks displays. Fireworks light up the skies in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston and at Niagara Falls. During the month of August, Japan celebrates its historic heritage through the art of fireworks and pyrotechnics. The Japanese have done this since the 18th century. Each year, France celebrates the 14th of July and the storming of the Bastille by revolutionaries, parading through the streets of Paris with red, white and blue fireworks, the French create breathtaking displays to celebrate. Hong Kong, China and Chinatowns across the world, celebrate Chinese New Year with tremendous red and yellow fireworks displays and colourful dragons winding their way through the bustling streets. Typically occurring in the first weekend of February, this usually coincides with the charming annual Lantern Festivals, where thousands are let go into the sky. The Muslim celebration of Eid Al Adha, signifying the end of Ramadan, often means multiple worldwide elaborate fireworks displays. The best of which can often be seen in Dubai. Christmas in South American countries like Peru includes playing with small firecrackers in the streets known as ‘little volcanoes’ or sparklers known as ‘little stars’. Singapore began its fireworks display in 2004 as a way of commemorating its history and celebrating its national values. Held in Marina Bay, this is a great tourist attraction. Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain.

So, it’s not just us. Folks all over the world celebrate their own Diwali. Their occasions, explanations, context may be different, but they do fireworks, pollution notwithstanding.

All of India celebrates Diwali, whether as the homecoming of Ram, the conclusion on the exile of the Pandavas, the killing of Narakasura, or the obliteration of the demon Bali. I have often wondered if there is some scientific reason towards celebrating an occasion like Diwali, India being such an ancient knowledge treasure house. Though Wikepedia claims that fireworks were invented in China in the 12^th century to keep evil spirits at bay, there is research which says that the knowledge of gunpowder existed in India a lot earlier. Chanakya’s Arthashastra speaks of using a mixture which points to gunpowder. History of gunpowder aside, I come back to the science behind Diwali. My father used to say that after monsoon, there is a surge of pests and insects, so we light oil lamps and burst crackers so that they die and our crops are saved. Actually it’s true! Google told me so. When one lights lamps, these insects fall to their own death. We safeguard the survival of our crops and hence our own survival.  Regarding crackers, I found a very interesting explanation in a speaking tree article. We, human beings, are pyromaniacs. According to Oxford Dictionary Pyromania is AN OBSESSIVE DESIRE TO SET FIRE TO THINGS. This is in our genes. If it is not properly controlled or channelized this becomes a mental disease. Since we all lived in caves millions of years ago, the only help we had from nature is FIRE. Knowing this pyromania our forefathers allowed us to do this in a controlled manner through either crackers during Diwali or the bon fire during Makar Sankranti.

My research is over and I am still not convinced that we need to boycott this once a year cracker bursting. If anyone has any information to convince me otherwise, you are most welcome to share. Till then, I continue bursting crackers and giving my children a taste of the real flavor of Diwali as we celebrated it in our childhood in spite of electric lights replacing oil lamps and Haldiram’s sweets replacing the homemade mithai!

To a lifetime of Diwali celebrations!