Some of my Non Indian readers might first wonder what DEEPAVALI is.Deepavali is one of the most popular festivals in India.It is called the festival of lights as it is customary to light oil lamps all along the front yard of each home on this day. I could ofcourse go yada yada about the significance of this festival and what not.But,But,that is not the aim of this blog entry.
It is only during the recent 60years that this festival has become less about just lighting pretty little lamps in a line in front of your home and has become more about bursting crackers and fireworks each deepavali. 'Deepa' literally translates from sanskrit into English as lamp or light.Vali means a line..So,yeah,Deepavali is all about lighting lamps in a line, not bursting crackers or noisy gunpowder bombs.
Each year, many people suffer burns and injuries during this festival because they d0n't take precautions while bursting firecrackers or wear the wrong kind of clothing while bursting crackers.Why exactly is everyone bursting crackers in the name of deepavali is my question!
THE CHINESE INVENTED GUNPOWDER. Before gunpowder and dynamite was invented there were no crackers at all.So, obviously there is no real place for crackers in the festival per say.
These crackers are noisy to the extent of causing instant deafness due to rupture of tympanic membrane due to the sudden deafening(literally) sound of a firecracker.These crackers also emit foul smelling noxious gases while burning up.Imagine a population of a billion or more people,all burning up noisy stuff all at the same time.It results in massive pollution.Just like immersing non-biodegradable statues into natural waterbodies in the name of tradition during Durga puja and Ganesh puja.
Keeping up traditions is just fine with me. In fact, I do like the lamp lighting part of it.But why go ahead and cause noise pollution by bursting crackers?( which btw was never a real original tradition in the first place!)
Think about it.Stop giving the excuse of TRADITION and doing things that are not actually really the tradition at all .Firecrackers never existed before gunpowder was invented,but deepavali existed before gunpowder was invented.So,go figure!
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