Diwali - 2018

Diwali, the Festival of Lights, usually cumbers up memories of firecrackers going off all day and all night for an entire week.  This was the reality for us back in 2013/2014 in Bangalore.  Since, then the Indian government have taken great steps to reduce the amount of pollution created by the nationwide celebrations.  So, this year we really only had crackers burst on 2 nights and only for about 4 hours each night.

This year there was a national directive to only burst crackers between 8 and 10pm on the four days of Diwali. However, many/most people did not follow the rules and no repercussions for ignoring the rules were enforced.  People said that for many families, it was the only time of the year that they got together to celebrate and that they would continue to celebrate as they normally would.  The air and ground pollution created over Diwali is like nothing I have ever witnessed before.

Also, the so-called 'green crackers' that the government wanted to enforce was a farce.  The sellers didn't know what a 'green cracker' was and the policeman trying to enforce the law didn't even know the difference between a polluting cracker and green cracker !!  Apparently they were supposed to have less 'particles' in them but who knows, as there really wasn't any for sale.

The pollution levels this Diwali in Delhi alone were at toxic levels. The air pollutants caused from crackers is even worse than normal air pollution, as it is full of large particles that are extremely hazardous to peoples health.  Will this ever change ?  I don't think so, the love of Diwali and the tradition of bursting crackers is not going to change.

We were in Goa for a couple of days over the Diwali break and enjoyed some well needed R & R.  Some photos of our trip below. 

Happy Diwali !