Diwali is here again! It's festivities, fun, food, firecrackers and fireworks all around! People are gearing up for a 'rocking' Diwali once again ,and what better way to do it than burst firecrackers and organize displays of fireworks. The bigger the better, of course! Is there anything that bothers you about this picture? What can we add or take away from the above that could make this Diwali better than others? I can see light dawning and heads nodding! That's a good sign, but what next? Hmm?
Why am I writing about this? Because this is a very, very important responsibility as a parent. There is something quite awry about our sense of fun today. We have now begun to associate festival time with buying and spending, no holds barred, the most expensive things we can afford, somehow confusing abundance with affluence, mistaking prosperity with a opulence, a sense of competition to outdo others with our festivities, pomp and celebrations. We buy gold, jewellery, land, houses, shops, offices, bigger cars, things we need, and more things we do not need, just to 'feel good' about our spending power. We are filling up our lives, our houses, our minds and even our relationships with THINGS! We want to give 'the best' to our children but the best is not about values or morals anymore, it is about big, beautiful, expensive things! Is that really the best we can give our children? Instead of mindless spending, could we not teach them love, compassion, giving, service and charity this Diwali? All the abundance in our lives is God's grace, could we not share it this time with the lesser fortunate? We have so much, sharing it with others is only going to multiply it, because the Law of Giving directly sets the Law of Abundance and Prosperity in motion. You may have read Ajay's write-up on this subject.
Whatever I have learned and seen so far tells me that we are the custodians of our earthly wealth and things while we are on this planet. We need to be good stewards of it, take care of it, use it wisely, not be wasteful but thrifty, and most importantly, give as freely as we have been given. The only thing that stops God from sending anything our way is our own miserliness or selfishness. If you really want to 'feel good', there is nothing like the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you give, which does not diminish as soon as all the crackers burn out. What better Diwali gift to our children than teaching them these important laws through our own examples?
What can we do practically about this? Make small trips with the children during these days, giving money, new clothes and shoes, essential items to people who live in orphanages, old age homes or destitutes. Sponsor a year's education for a child/children with the money you were going to spend on the infamous 10,000 chain-bombs or other expensive firecrackers! The money that you have planned to spend/ lose in Diwali parties or posh celebrations, you could send a draft through various organizations to so many areas hit with natural calamities or political warfare, like the remote areas of Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Kashmir, maoist areas around the country,...the possibilities are endless. Talk to the children about all this, make them aware and then ask them if they would like to give away their Diwali funds for these causes. I can assure you of the overwhelming response of a child's loving, giving heart! Let this year's Diwali budget work for the greater good of so many more families than just yours.
The other aspect of Diwali celebrations is the use of fireworks, and no celebrations are considered complete without burning up hundreds and thousands of them! But not enough can be said about the extremely harmful effects of this on our health and the environment at large. These are both safety and health hazards. I cannot possibly mention all the health-related problems here, but a few prominent ones are hearing loss, high blood pressure, deafness, heart attacks, nausea, mental impairment, asthma, bronchitis, etc. My older son, who is now almost ten, since the age of 2 or 3, has been working continually to educate first us, then his classmates and people he meets, about how harmful firecrackers are for us, our surroundings and consequently, our whole world. He talks about how children who are made to work illegally in factories that make firecrackers, not only suffer child labour, but chronic and irreversible diseases! How can we, as parents, allow this gross suffering and inhuman behaviour to continue with other children? The only way we can help this is by breaking off the demand chain, the supply will have to go down as well. These small children are also a part of our greater responsibility.
Decreased visibility due to smog leads to so many accidents every year. The loud and sudden noises are very traumatic for small babies, the sick and dying, and older people. Even animals suffer on account of firecrackers as they have a more sensitive sense of hearing than humans. Have we as a society, completely lost our compassion and humaneness? Is our fun more important than the well-being and lives of others? I certainly hope not. Even the government of India has banned firecrackers between 10 pm and 6 am, from Dushehra to Diwali, observing that the ‘Right to Sleep’ is a fundamental right. The Central Pollution Board of India has banned firecrackers with a decibel level of more than 125 at a distance of 4 meters from the bursting point. Even the authorities that we blame are making efforts to reduce this nuisance, why can't we? After all, is this not our family, our neighbourhood, our society, our planet, our world?
The sanctity of Diwali should not be blown away in smoke. Diwali is a festival of lights, let us not turn it into a festival of noise and fire. Insead, let us teach our children to celebrate with lighting up our houses and neighbourhood, not in expensive ways, but with 'diyas' and candles. Get them to help with the spring-cleaning, getting rid of the unnecessary stuff, decorating the house, painting 'rangolis', preparing for the 'pooja', helping with making festival sweets, wrapping up small gifts for friends and family, 'making up' with neglected or estranged ones, making colourful greeting cards, etc. All this will not only help them to learn about the true spirit of Diwali, but they will also be able to think of 'fun' in other ways than just bursting firecrackers. At our Centre, last Diwali we made the children aware about these various aspects, and it was so heartening to see that a majority of the children, even as young as 4 years of age, undertook a pledge to have a safe, environment-friendly Diwali. They also took on the responsibility to educate their friends and family about all these issues, and these special children earned very special certificates for their endeavours! It was very interesting to see that it was the parents who had more of a problem with having a fireworks-free Diwali! (Sorry, parents!)
What then is our responsibility this Diwali? Let us turn Diwali back into a festival of lights, victory, prayer, giving, sharing, joy, happiness, goodwill, sanctity, safety, freshness, laughter and fun! And don't forget, good parenting! All these good things which come out of loving hearts and open minds. All the things that all the money and opulence in the world cannot buy. Let us pray at this time for ourselves, our loved ones and the entire planet. Let us all reclaim Diwali for what it signifies – light, hope and fresh beginnings. All the blessings of love, light, happiness and abundance are on their way to you in a fresh new way this year. HAVE A BRILLIANT DIWALI!
al mother-teacher, runs Life Express - an after-school center for children. She can be reached at juhimalini@gmail.com. She also writes 'Reflections of an inner Journey'
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