Cracker less Diwali - Meatless Eid

Diwali the festival of lights may bring joy to humans, but it is an absolute nightmare for pets and animals. Many a times the burst of crackers affect them mentally and some times physically too.

Many NGOs came out with the plan of Cracker less diwali, Safe Diwali. They even conducted campaigns and explained about the after effects of crackers especially on animals.

It is for sure that Animals go through lots of pain during the time of diwali. A small sound of cracker will make them run like head-less chicken and they will search for dugout to stay away from the sound.

On the other hand, there are organizations which talks only about child labour. The fire cracker Manufactures make money by employing young kid for making the crackers.

My serious doubts / Thoughts

• Where are these social reformers going when it comes to slaughtering of Cows, animals, pets  during the time of Eid

• Why are they making hell a lot of noise when animals are getting feared because of sound  but keeping quiet when they are being cut into pieces.

• There are more number of meat outlets in the country than the firecracker manufacturers. Dont they count on child labour.

• Though risk involved in the child labour in a fire cracker industry is much higher in meat outlet, a child labour is a child labour only.

On the other hand, the crackers are burnt even during other festivals also, but the intensity is less compared to diwali. When people can talk about artificial fireworks, why cant they come up with a food that tastes exactly like meat and distribute to the general public, instead of killing the animals

Please don't get the feeling that i am talking against my Muslim brothers, Its for all the people belong to any  religion who kill the animals and eat the dead remains.

The NGOs and the  social reform organization are more attracted towards "Cute"  "pretty"  animals and forget about the "non-cute" non-pretty" ones. Please remember Cuteness and prettyness is subjective and animals should be not be discriminated based on the looks and appearance.

If NGOs or social reform organization plan to ban crackers, let them ban killing of animals also. 

Hugs and Eid wishes to all my Muslim Brothers & Sisters..

-

Sriram J. Iyer

We all need Subhiksha but not with this!

Thanks to peekayar@yahoo.com (P.K.Ramakrishnan) for this insight.

Deepavali  In South India the name used for Deepavali is Narakachaturdasi.  Chaturdasi is the fourteenth day of krishnapaksha. This day is dedicated to Naraka. Naraka an asura,  the son of Satyabhama. Satyabhama is said to be an incarnation of Lakshmi or Fortune.

Now let us discuss the mythological aspect of this. Naraka is the Sanskrit word for hell. Hell is another word for misery. When misery is annihilated fortune automatically springs.  Both cannot co-exist.   When Naraka is killed people take bath to get rid of the pollution.  When fortune springs people are happy and partake sweet things and celebrate with row of lighted lamps called Deepavali. This appears to be inner significance of Narakachaturdasi and Deepavali.


Thanks to peekayar@yahoo.com (P.K.Ramakrishnan) for this insight.

Now thoughts,

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of diwali is the crackers. 

Throughout the city, round the corners you are able to see cracker shops of various brands from “Standard” to “Kuyil”. Somehow, I am fascinated by crackers. It might be because I am not afraid of the sound/noise.

This year the troubled retail chain “Subhiksha” started a பட்டாசுக்கடல் (Sea of Crackers). The advertisement claims the cost of crackers are much lesser than other shops and it also claims that a “40%” flat discount is available in the shop.

I have gone and visited (Visited) one of the shops near Velacherry Railway station. It was a surprise to me that there is no “standard” brand crackers and top of it, you don’t find any GOOD fancy crackers.

Reasons for why a consumer should not get cheated on seeing false advt., boards.

• You don’t get a Price list. 
• Brand of crackers is not mentioned
• There is comparison with other shops

Price Comaprison : it is way too costly comparing with other shops. I am 100% happy with advertisement boards saying “40%” on crackers. Note : Discount not applicable for standard crackers.

A “Standard” brand 1000Wala costs around Rs.375, where as in Subhiksha a xyz-branded costs Rs.440. Invariable all the items are costlier by Rs.20 or more.

Yes I agree that cracker industry got a hit off-late because of child labour problems. In subhiksha’s case, I think they have spent more on the shop area, covers, lights, Generators, advertisement hoardings and increased the cost of the crackers.

Caution: If you are planning to buy from subhiksha, make sure that you compare the prices with other shops and then start off your purchase.

Note :  Yes, I agree that there are people who say "No" to crackers or "Ban" crackers during diwali. It depends on family to family. If you have kids who are crazy about crackers, I dont want  to let them down. Other than New clothes, Sweets, Wishes and  Aasirvathams,  crackers does make the kids remember the diwali in a special way. Yes we have planned something special this Diwali (Fireworks). 


Of-course yes, there are other ways to celebrate diwali. I agree to that.

Wish you all Happy, Safe and colourful diwali.