POWER OF THE
CRACKERS
Well Diwali
has come and gone and one big gain from it appears to be the reduction in
’Crackers’. The Supreme Court ruling in stopping sales in Delhi NCR and the
overall environment awareness helped in the matter. However; this is only a
beginning and we have much to travel to eliminate this tendency. One newspaper
article did point out an
interesting fact that usage of ‘fire crackers’ is a 20th
century phenomenon when in 1920s the ‘Nadars’ established the Cracker factory in Shivkashi. I do remember that when
I was in Nilgiris in the late nineties the crackers sold very cheap and one
stocked them too.
As children
we did look forward to Diwali essentially for bursting crackers but over the
years the awareness that it is environmentally harmful distanced us from its
usage my daughter also opposed it when she learnt in school about its harmful
affects. The occasional reports in media about the use of child labour in
cracker factories of Shivkashi and the lack of safety norms being adhered to made our resolve stronger.
But; this problem will go only with social awareness and not with legislations.
Similar to the campaign against smoking and more specific ‘passive smoking’.
I also sense
that people use ‘fire crackers’ as a manifestation of their anger against the
system/elite /ruling class. Further to assert their position in society. Very
many time I have observed that this assertion in exhibited from the ‘slums’ of
Mumbai the ‘Jhuggi Jhopri’ areas where people may have little to survive but
save to assert their presence during
Diwali. They start much before Diwali and go on for days after Diwali.
The powerful and feudal in small towns and Tehsils specially in Northern and
Central India fire Guns during
Marriage ceremonies called ‘Haersh Firing’ ( happy firing). This too is
manifestation of Power through the barrel of the Gun.
Therefore this issue is also related to our
social problem where the poor assert as
license during Diwali their sense of presence and anger ( sub consciously ) and
the Feudal assert their position sort of reaffirm their position by ’Haersh
firing’ during marriages. Festivals then do not remain as occasion of festivity
but simply showing of social positions.
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