After I moved to Southern India, I learned that Diwali is celebrated as the day that Lord Krishna defeated the Asura Narakasura. I was surprised because my younger self never realized that festivals may bear different meanings for different parts of India.
In western India the festival marks the day that Lord Vishnu, the Preserver (one of the main gods of the Hindu trinity) sent the demon King Bali to rule the nether world.[Source: National Geographic ]
Well, India is a land of rich and diverse culture. Even though we are unaware of the reasons of celebrations in our neighboring states, these festivals bond us together. Still a question in my mind remains unanswered - When did Diwali become a festival of crackers?
“The use of fireworks in the celebration of Diwali, which is so common in India now, must have come into existence after about 1400 AD, when gunpowder came to be used in Indian warfare,” stated late historian P K Gode in his account, “History of Fireworks in India between 1400 and 1900,” published in 1950.[Source: Indian Express ]
The use of fireworks has been prominent in north and central India, with southern states slowly adopting this tradition. Wow, so a relatively new adopted tradition has become synonym with the festival in recent times.
In past few years, Government has tried to ban excessive use of firecrackers on and around Diwali without much success. This year many states atleast imposed some form of ban to reduce pollution which could worsen health of COVID19 patients. Despite of ban, many enthusiast burst crackers to keep their tradition alive. Many messages have been flooding in social media which relates the ban to being "anti-Hindu". To further explain the hurt feelings of these "special" Hindus, they ask Christians to not burn candles on Christmas. I have even come across a message that compares pollution created by burning a candle to that by a firecracker. To such religious people I have to say one thing - before cursing another religion, atleast first do a basic research or atleast google about their festivals. It would have been more appropriate if these social "media" workers would have demanded ban on Christmas carols or Christmas tree or even Christmas cake for a more just argument. There have been attacks on people in churches during their Christmas service in many cities in past years. I'm sure that not many are aware of these injustice as our media fails to put light on such real ground reports. Still the "true" Christians have failed to demand justice on social media by asking their Hindu counterparts to not attend pujas in temples or their home on Diwali.
I have witnessed 4th of July celebration a few years ago. At first, the thought which crossed my mind was that I have seen these many crackers bursting together in Dussera celebrations in my city. And more in Diwali as the whole city show off their spending capacity on various crackers. But what I learned is that we all can enjoy crackers together than bursting individually which can somewhat reduce the pollution created in a day. Even if we are unable to believe that crackers cause air pollution, noise pollution is real. Remember how our pets react to these celebrations. Cracker noise throughout night is a nuance to infants, some young children, some elderlies and patients. Please be considerate to all. Our celebration should not be a trouble to others. Celebrate this festival by following the other old traditions - cleaning the house thoroughly, lighting clay lamps or decorating house with lights, putting rangoli at house entrance, preparing special sweets and snacks, visiting our friends and family and performing special prayers.
I celebrated this Diwali by preparing sweet and snacks at home, wishing friends and family over phone and making diyas from flour.
Happy Diwali!
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