Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. Albert Camus
The Countdown to Diwali has always been associated with the beginning of pleasant autumn mornings when the air is cooler and the tea cup in morning feels warm, not hot. As a child I eagerly counted days to Diwali as soon as the effigy of Ravan was burnt on Dushhera. The wait for Diwali was full of endless to-do lists : buy firecrackers, visit friends , Diwali lights, Diyas , rangoli designs ideas (the unspoken competition of who makes the best rangoli) and of course our homes inadvertently becoming “ mithai ki dukaan”. On the day of Diwali we eagerly awaited for Lakshmi-puja to be over quickly so that we could burst crackers.
After Diwali , there was the mandatory illness due to allergies.
Now that was my magical childhood. Magical despite the pollution as childhoods often are presumptuously magical.
My motherhood has a different story. Come autumn , I enjoy the mornings from a distance, as though looking out the window but reminiscing in past. I stare outside thinking how much trouble it will be to manage my daughter’s breathing issues. She will miss out on dance and sports due to it. When she is in school, I have to ensure that my work revolves in a periphery of maximum 20 minutes drive to school, as the numerous emergency calls from school due to my daughter’s breathing issues are scary.
My to do list for Diwali still begins after Dushhera which includes Friends to visit, gifts to buy, rangoli design and most importantly stocking up on masks, mosquito patches and inhalers.
Am I blaming Diwali for pollution? Am I blaming change in season for mosquitos leading to dengue mania? Am I saying that it’s various kinds of pollution caused by us which are making us sick?
Am I blaming the farmers for burning stubbles that fill the Delhi air with unbearable smog clogging our lungs and making children fall sick?
Can a different farming technique prevent this cause of pollution across major parts of North India?
Am I blaming the pollution in metropolitan cities caused by variety of factors and not just one?
The toxic gases & particles emitted from bursting firecrackers are more dangerous.
Even though India’s carbon emissions have increased by 5.2% in 2015 contributing 6.3% of all global CO2 emissions, even though global emissions remained unchanged (researchers at the ‘Global Carbon Project’. .
We are not alone in fireworks, The July 4 fireworks in US emit the equivalent of 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. (Source inverse.com)
However, cultural celebrations are not the lone cause of pollution.
Industrialisation without consideration for environment, decrease in number of trees per capita , increase in urban density of population, rapid urbanisation with environmental disregard , and mobility of population are amongst the prime reasons for India being ranked 4th in carbon dioxide (kt) emissions (2,454,968 kt)
The difference between reasonable restrictions and blanket ban is the degree of trust put in citizens to be responsible humans. The demand for clean air or even the Right to Breathe is because somewhere over and over again our government has failed to give us holistic economic development.
Thanks, to the Supreme Court’s ban on firecrackers- No one will buy and sell firecrackers in Delhi, it’s a breathing respite. But there will still be buying , selling and burning of firecrackers . There will also be pollution on the other 364 days .
I have an urban jungle in my house and balcony, even though having greenery in house comes with the fear of mosquito-friendly existence. The added electricity bill due to air-purifiers makes me guilty of consuming electricity by burning fossil fuels in order to have clean air.
Perhaps now is my turn to demand Right to breathe (clean air). We live in times where high-speed data is more important than clean air. A generation that can tolerate air-pollution but not mobile phones without internet connectivity (carcinogenicity of cell phone towers is a debate for another time )
For now we are gifting plants on Diwali as my 9 year old feels that’s the best gift along with sweets.
