Diwali: Festivals of Lights

Diwali is one of the most celebrated festivals in India. It is also called the festival of lights since everyone lights up their homes with diyas and festive lights. It is celebrated to enjoy the arrival of Lord Ram back at his kingdom, ‘Ayodhay’ after 14 years of exile. His return has been celebrated for ages and every generation had its version of Diwali. What has not changed at all is the exchange of gifts. Every year on Diwali Hindus wear new clothes, eat sweets, and exchange gifts. But slowly this pure festival is changing into a show-off competition and a great cause for air pollution in India.

This Diwali many big brands like ‘Cadbury’ is trying to promote buying things from local vendors to make their Diwali happy as well. People from all backgrounds wait all year to receive the Diwali bonuses and the public should not snatch that happiness from their local vendors by buying things only from big brands to show off their wealth. Diwali can be celebrated by buying handcrafted diyas from small businesses and buying local sweets. After seeing a surge in air pollution many governments all around India restricted the sale and use of crackers, only green crackers were allowed. This led to the black marketing of crackers along with a sudden surge in the prices of green crackers.

This decision also hurt the religious sentiments of many people who believed that other practices such as the burning of crops also caused pollution which was overlooked by the government, therefore, giving out a biased decision against the Hindu community. So this Diwali, support local business and spread awareness about air pollution which will make this Diwali celebration pure and happy again.