DIWALI

Diwali or the Festival of Lights is celebrated every year in India. Signifying victory of good over the evil and the end of the last harvest before the onset of winter. Every year crackers are burnt on a large scale and each house adorned with lights or lamps.

Ten years back the idea of crackers made me go berserk. Every Diwali my father brought home a box of crackers and just like other kids I blew them up till they all went up in smoke. Little did I know these where made by children my age, their hands endlessly toiling and struggling. I was burning the crackers carefully handcrafted by the sweat and tears of a kid whose world was limited between four walls.

I remember meeting Raja, one of the 80,000 children who painstakingly toil making our Diwali colourful at the Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. Tell that to the manufacturers and the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association (TFAA) who deny any use of child labour. Sivakasi is India's cracker capital which contributes to around 80% of the fireworks produced with an annual turnover of over 1000 cr. Produced by children between 9-14 years old these crackers take around 300 days to make, eventually taking 3 days to be up in flames and smoke

Most factories are unregistered and illegal, located at the back yard of tiny huts with minimal safety measures. Here underage children are crammed inside into dingy rooms, spending the whole day making crackers out of gunpowder, potassium nitrate, cadmium and potassium chloride. Which pose a deadly health hazard causing respiratory diseases, eye infections and skin allergies. Large scale illegal manufacture of fireworks have banned, with some indridents falling under the Class 7 category, under the Explosives Rules 1983. There have been many accidents that have disfigured the victim and sometimes ended up fatal. Because most factories do not have a valid license the victims do receive compensation. It's a pitiable sight to look at these children, their hands and bodies shriveled, the life sucked out of their faces

There are many arguments to this evolving dilemma, some say it's ruthless exploitation by the capitalist minded, and others blame the families. The government has been ignoring the Sivakasi issue for far too long, many laws have been past, many laws will be, but who bothers?

As for Raja who sits in a small hut behind stacks of paper and gunpowder working the whole day huffing and puffing deadly chemicals it's will be just another day at work. He too has dreams, but the mean harsh world he lives pushes him to work at this tender age. The money he makes goes to his father, who uses it to feed his thirst for alcohol. Paradoxically children of the same age have a fiesta perversely blowing these crackers. No one can blame them; they do not know the monster behind the curtain is.


The festival - treat or threat

This Diwali is undoubtedly going to start with a 'Big Bang'. With noise levels peaking, everyone is assured an ear popping experience. Noise and air pollution levels during Diwali have always been a problem. With Most crackers producing large amounts of smoke and unwanted noise.

There is a great battle during Diwali; there is safety and health on one hand, and customs on the other hand. Doctors have reported a worrying increase in the number of people complaining of bronchitis and asthma after Diwali. Hospitals get many visits from people who have suffered from partial and full burns, some of the cases happen due to the misfire of a cracker or rocket.

A report on the ambient air quality on Diwali night prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) highlights the high levels of noxious pollutants like Reparable Suspended Particulate Matter (PM10 - RSPM) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2). There have also been many reports of deaths. Over 18 people died in an accident that occurred at an illegal fireworks factory in the western Indian state of Rajasthan on October 23rd, 2008 just few days before the festival. All this indicates how unsafe the whole process of Diwali is.

The original idea of Diwali is to celebrate it as a festival of lights and lamps. Not to make a riot out of crackers. I don't burst crackers because I don't want to add another tear to Raja's eyes, do you? A festival, to celebrate a prosperous year ahead, is some time a sign of yet another year ahead at the back yard for the kids at Sivakasi.


SO STOP USING CRACKERS !!!!
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