This Is How I Celebrated Diwali This Year To Make A Change

Diwali is the festival of lights. People celebrate the day by lighting oil lamps, bursting crackers and enjoying cultural family time to remember that good always prevails over evil. I celebrated Diwali very differently this time. I decided to gift oxygen. I planted a tree and challenged my friends to plant a tree too. I request all of you to take this challenge(#plantatreechallenge) and continue the chain. Help me in making Earth a better place to live.

I decorated my building by helping my friends make a rangoli. I went to meet my friends. I thoroughly enjoyed the short reunion with them after a long time. I loved the part where we exchanged gifts and sweets. It was fun to see the whole society in a festive mood. It was beautifully decorated with LED lights. I came back home and lit candles.

Being a patient of Bronchitis, I have never been well around Diwali. The reason is not pollution from firecrackers alone but also pollution from the stubble burning, which has its effects from pre-Diwali. Though I crave for days where I have absolutely nothing to do, where I just lay at home doing nothing—switching from one app to another on my phone, doing the same on a festival when all your peers and family are enjoying is not fun!

Pollution and loud noise from firecrackers cause me irritation, severe headache, skin allergy, red eyes and severe breathing problem. To raise awareness, I uploaded a photo on my social media handles. I wanted to convey that ‘pollution mask’ is also a sacred part of Diwali preparations in recent times!

Despite the government’s initiatives (such as light show, Diwali Mela etc.), and my efforts towards a green Diwali (I am sure many other sensitive people like me must have celebrated in the same way), pollution levels have risen. I am writing this with my pollution mask on. I  can see the pollution, I can feel it with every breath. I went out on the streets and saw them littered.

I don’t understand why people fail to embrace the reason behind Diwali celebration, the hidden message to celebrate it, and the best way to enjoy Diwali! The apex court of India didn’t put a complete ban on firecrackers. It gave certain guidelines to be followed such as limiting the time to burst crackers, use of green crackers, restricting the use of noisy crackers etc. Why is it so difficult for us to abide by the rules? Why can’t we celebrate Diwali more gracefully? Why can’t we think of the birds and the dogs? Why can’t we think of our future? Why are we so insensitive?

We Indians refer to our nation as our mother (Bharat Mata), to show love and respect for the land that provides us with resources and opportunities. This is to impart as much respect to our nation as we impart to our mothers. However, let us accept that we are not very sensitive towards our mothers except on Mothers Day or their birthday. In addition to taking her for granted for all that she does for us—from cooking to praying for us, we tend to dump all our mood swings on her. I see a similarity between the treatment of our mothers literally and metaphorically, taken for granted and zero gratitude, our mother continuous to suffer not only literally but also metaphorically.

Let us learn to respect our mother and also our mother earth. Let us grow more respectful towards them and not harm them in any manner!

Let’s join hands to protect our festivals and our environment equally. Let us plant trees and aim for a zero-waste target. Let’s not burst harmful crackers anytime in the year. Let’s switch to green and preach green.