Festivals and Sustainability
“No! No! No! I hate to go out “ cried Aditya when he was just
three years old. As a mother I was perplexed as Diwali, Dussehra, Holi etc used to be an indoor affair for many
years. The unending sound of the crackers and choking air during Diwali, the itchy colours during holi was nothing less than a horror movie. When did
the transition of fun and laughter turn into a nightmare? Signature campaign in
schools, petition drives, street plays,
skits, walkathons etc have no meaning because we elders are a spoil sport and
buy crackers and colours and gift it to the kids . Dichotomy in thoughts and
actions keep us and our kids on different pages and hence act as stumbling
block towards a constructive clean
approach. My childhood memories of
festivals were so different - there used
to be a de-clutter drive at home, buying new clothes,upholstery, preparation of
sweets like mathri, shaker paaras,besan ki chakki, bhujia, gujias, dahi bada, kachori
etc for distribution to the neighbours place and for taking to school for teachers
and friends. Making rangolis and decorating the house in various ways was
planned well. There was no concept of exchanging gifts , no recycling of gifts and no wastage of paper
for wrapping or wastage of fuel and time for shopping and distribution of the
same. How systems and traditions evolve is beyond comprehension. I remember one
Diwali, my Mom had to be away for some work and my Dad and my two sisters
celebrated Diwali. When mom returned she asked us as to how we celebrated
Diwali. My elder sister (who was 14 yrs old) said she was reading the
specialities made by Liberty Sweets( mentioned on the box), I was 11 yrs and
said that I was reciting “Hanuman Chalisa” in my mind and my little sister( who
was six years old ) said she was reciting –Our Father in Heaven ,Holy be Thou
name....( that’s all she knew from school), till Dad finished his silent
prayer. A couple of sparklers were all that was bought to create more light. It
was so simple yet an enjoyable affair. Pollution was never a menace.
Usually it is the bursting of crackers during Diwali which contributes to the most
evident and observable air pollution but water
pollution due to idol immersion (and
tons of floral offerings along with it) ,poor quality colours used during Holi,
noise pollution caused by loud speakers, thermal pollution due to
burning of effigies , etc are some evident instances which cannot be ignored
either . There are other silent pollutants that form bulk of the trash post
festivals which go unnoticed . Packaging material like chocolate boxes, sweet
boxes, fancy fruit baskets, dry fruits containers etc etc; form major chunk of trash. Who is going to
alter the trend? Are we waiting for some government policy or blindly convinced
to follow the rat race? Be the change – its actually disgusting to listen to
the kids when they come to school and tell us how their parents and relatives pamper and load them with all this stuff ( their way of
showering love). Education and action
has no age- for once think about the repercussion on the flora and fauna( which
is our life line) and eventually about the imbalance which is created in
nature. The circle of life goes for a six due to these anthropogenic actions.
Who will take the responsibility? The government, schools, NGO’s or some Alien
from space?
This festive season lets be innovative and change the trends
for a better living by being
traditional and celebrating all the festivals with happiness and cheer.
Let us exchange smiles and culture, let us guide our kids and leave a
meaningful legacy . Keep it simple and
bond with each other. It is not difficult - try out this time and focus on
spending quality time rather than running around distributing gifts. Check out
your carbon footprints and promise mother Earth an extravaganza of green festivals.
Wishing you all a happy and joyous festive season!
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