This Year, Celebrate Green Diwali !!

Diwali is the most auspicious and renowned festival of the Hindus but, in recent times, the festival has crossed all caste barriers and is celebrated with the same passion and devotion, not only in India but globally, too.  The Diwali festival holds much significance as it gives us the important message of dispelling the darkness of ignorance inside us and cleaning our soul from evils like greed, etc.

In Mumbai and its suburbs, Diwali is celebrated with cultural pomp and spectacle. People clean, decorate and light their houses with colourful lights and attractive Diwali lanterns. Eye-catching rangoli and the customary earthen divas adore their door-steps. The delicious aroma of sweets and a variety of delicacies add glitter to the festival of Diwali. People dress in new attire, greet each other and exchange sweets with each other on Diwali with great delight and pray for each other’s prosperity and happiness.

Diwali is incomplete without the bursting of crackers, but the data released by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) shows the levels of particulate matter (PM) in Mumbai as the highest in over 20 years. Thus, air pollution in Mumbai is steadily increasing. Though the Supreme Court has not banned bursting of crackers, it has urged citizens to burst fireworks that do not pollute the environment. So, burst green crackers and celebrate Diwali with colourful lights and avoid chemical crackers and those that make ear-deafening sounds.

Frankly speaking, instead of spending your hard-earned money on burning crackers, it would be wise to spend the same money on charitable causes. You could help some needy and underprivileged children by purchasing books for their education; give toys to kids of the poor, spend Diwali with orphans in ashrams and give them sweets or visit an Elders’ Home and bring joy to several senior citizens who have been left there neglected by their children.

Thus, one can celebrate Diwali by indulging in such noble deeds. But, it is a tragedy the present-day youth is more interested in bursting crackers than taking up social causes. However, with growing pollution and increasing awareness among the youth and children, one hopes this Diwali our youngsters will display intelligence and celebrate a pollution-free Diwali.

Home Times, too, joins this crusade and appeals to keep off fire-crackers and celebrate a pollution-free Diwali!

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