A lifetime spent opposing crackers.
As a school going child I was made aware of the rampant child labour involved in making crackers. And I took the pledge to not burst them.
The industries responded by outsourcing a lot of the work. People would take the work home and use their children, instead of sending their children to factories where they could be spotted by authorities or photographed by nosy journalists.
As a young man I remember going to Vanavani school within IIT campus and speaking to school children there, educating them about the child labour involved in making firecrackers.
CRY used to spearhead the campaign back then. And they were variously labelled as foreign funded and Christian. All the reports from the ground, about the pervasiveness of child workers in firecracker industries, were ignored. People loved crackers.
Gradually, the employment of children in these industries dropped. I'm not sure why or how.
And then the issue of noise and air pollution came up. The health issues that children working in Sivakasi had seen, our own children started exhibiting after Diwali.
This time it was the Hindutva supporters who got their knickers in a knot. Firecrackers had become a part of Hindu religion or culture. But they have only been in wide use for 4-5 centuries. The all important vedas don't mention them, obviously, because the Chinese hadn't invented gunpowder when the vedas were written. These days it has become customary to seek answers about Hindu religion in the vedas instead of just accepting tradition. So a number of seers and religious leaders have given the thumbs down to firecrackers on diwali.
The bursting of firecrackers has gone from being a communal activity to an individual competition of one-upmanship. I remember traveling miles in Bhopal to see ravana being burnt or firecrackers being burst. Now every gully has a celebration. The curse of prosperity. The kinds of harmful chemicals being used to generate various colours and effects have made the courts of the country jump. These aren't your grandpa's anars any more, made at home in a tiny earthen pot with just gunpowder.
And so the battle rages on, year after year. From Diwali to Gurupurab, from weddings to funerals†, and even after cricket victories, our addiction to firecrackers knows no end. Just like our addiction to private vehicles keeps growing year after year.
Please follow WarriorMoms.IN. #DhoomDhamakaWithoutPatakha
† Tamilians burst crackers, dance, drink and make merry in a funeral celebration. This is our tradition. Once the BJP rules TN, we shall have this behaviour rectified as per vedic sanction.
As a school going child I was made aware of the rampant child labour involved in making crackers. And I took the pledge to not burst them.
The industries responded by outsourcing a lot of the work. People would take the work home and use their children, instead of sending their children to factories where they could be spotted by authorities or photographed by nosy journalists.
As a young man I remember going to Vanavani school within IIT campus and speaking to school children there, educating them about the child labour involved in making firecrackers.
CRY used to spearhead the campaign back then. And they were variously labelled as foreign funded and Christian. All the reports from the ground, about the pervasiveness of child workers in firecracker industries, were ignored. People loved crackers.
Gradually, the employment of children in these industries dropped. I'm not sure why or how.
And then the issue of noise and air pollution came up. The health issues that children working in Sivakasi had seen, our own children started exhibiting after Diwali.
This time it was the Hindutva supporters who got their knickers in a knot. Firecrackers had become a part of Hindu religion or culture. But they have only been in wide use for 4-5 centuries. The all important vedas don't mention them, obviously, because the Chinese hadn't invented gunpowder when the vedas were written. These days it has become customary to seek answers about Hindu religion in the vedas instead of just accepting tradition. So a number of seers and religious leaders have given the thumbs down to firecrackers on diwali.
The bursting of firecrackers has gone from being a communal activity to an individual competition of one-upmanship. I remember traveling miles in Bhopal to see ravana being burnt or firecrackers being burst. Now every gully has a celebration. The curse of prosperity. The kinds of harmful chemicals being used to generate various colours and effects have made the courts of the country jump. These aren't your grandpa's anars any more, made at home in a tiny earthen pot with just gunpowder.
And so the battle rages on, year after year. From Diwali to Gurupurab, from weddings to funerals†, and even after cricket victories, our addiction to firecrackers knows no end. Just like our addiction to private vehicles keeps growing year after year.
Please follow WarriorMoms.IN. #DhoomDhamakaWithoutPatakha
† Tamilians burst crackers, dance, drink and make merry in a funeral celebration. This is our tradition. Once the BJP rules TN, we shall have this behaviour rectified as per vedic sanction.