Silent Diwali Bash Traditions in India : For the Sake of Wildlife
Meghna 'Phoenix'
Ghatak
Diwali is a festival of lights and people believe in lighting up the
darkest corners of their cities and towns with as much light as possible.
Hence, we have a tradition of bursting crackers from twilight to dawn during
the entire festive week with our extended families and friends.
In the midst of these celebrations, we forget an essential detail, that
being the welfare of the animals who cannot bear the loud noises of the
crackers and fireworks. Not to mention the tormentors who purposely tie
crackers to the tails of innocent beasts or promptly burst them on their
bodies. I need not morally reprimand them here as this article won't be read by
them but the ones who would never torture a fellow animal but give them a piece
of their minds or have them punished.
Indian cities are yet to identify with the blanket ban on the sale and
burning of crackers by the Supreme Court but our villagers are far ahead with
it and have been celebrating green Diwali for years now. This Diwali Eve, let's
take a leaf out of the yearbook of these villages and towns, who do not burst
crackers to protect wildlife, for any celebrations.
1. Kollukudipatti - Kollukudipatti is a village in
Singampunari block, under the main Melaiyur village in Sivaganga district of
Tamil Nadu. This district is home to Vettangudi Bird Sanctuary, the natural
habitat of many international winter migratory birds covering a protected area
of 40 hectares, off the Madurai-Karaikudi highway. The villagers' hospitality
has invited the yearly breeding of 20 migrant varieties, ranging from the
common storks, ibis, grebes, egrets, herons and cormorants to comparatively
rarer ones such as the yellow wattle lapwing and lesser whistling duck. Three
decades ago, the village sarpanch found out that the chicks fell off the trees
out of shock whenever the crackers were bursted. Hence a ban was established,
after a little revolt from the youngsters, but now even the children
abstain from burning them during not just Diwali but also at any given
auspicious celebrations. The villagers also take turns functioning as forest
guides to tourists as well as in guarding the hatchlings and eggs from monkeys.
The local government is pleased with their efforts to promote eco tourism and
for putting the village on the international map for maintaining the nesting
point with three rain fed water tanks. The forest department now promotes them
as eco guides from September to February to generate income for them so that
with their continuous participation, as many as 25,000 birds can forever
consider Vettangudi as their safe haven.
2.
Purushwadi - Purushwadi is an Indian village
comprising of 109 houses—situated at a height of about 1,000 feet on the
Western Ghats in Ghoti along the Mumbai-Nashik Highway. The name is an
alteration of 'purn ucch vadi' meaning completely high valley and not at all
'the abode of men' that the name now seems to mean. The people of this village,
living 220 kms away from Mumbai, abstain from burning crackers and instead
celebrate Diwali in a Halloween like tradition of kids singing door to door and
receiving treats. Five days before Diwali, the children make a travesty
of cut grass and sticks, insert earthen lamps (diyas) in it and decorate it
with garlands. This is then carried door to door and the people pour oil in the
burning lamps to keep them lit and the children preserve the rest along with rice
and pulses to cook delicious Khichdi on the day of Diwali. This is a better
version of the Halloween treats and is eaten in the flickering lights of the
lamps burning all around, as the village suffers from frequent power
cuts.
3.
Nathwada - nestled in the Aravali hills of
Rajasthan, on the banks of the River Banas in Rajsamand District, 48 kilometres
north-east of Udaipur, this town is devoted to Lord Krishna. The name
'Nathdwara' itself means ‘Gateway to Shrinathji', the Lord who defeated Lord
Indra and protected the villagers from his wrath by uprooting a mountain with a
single lift of his divine finger. The visitors are thus greeted with
traditional Pichwai paintings featuring scenes from Lord Krishna's life, on the
freshly whitewashed walls of the buildings. The major fervour of the festival
can be seen a day after Diwali, on Annakoot festival (mount of food) where
literally mountains of offerings are placed before the exasperatedly decorated idol.
'Khekra' or the cow game is a crowd puller event, where men bedazzle their cows
and dress up as cowherds to function as metadors ( bullfighters) to the
charging cows. Locals believe that the more they are injured, the more they are
blessed. The cows are also served and milk extracted from them is used
specifically for the offering, which is ritualistically 'looted' by the Bhils
and the devotees without the din of crackers.
4.
Dang - This tribal village in Gujarat, about
270 kms from Vadodara, is home to tribals who do not burst crackers to
celebrate fortnight long Diwali celebrations. Tribals of Netrang, Sagbara,
Dadiyapada and those living along the belt from Panchmahal to Dang in South
Gujarat begin the festivities by greeting each other after offering their gods,
liquor and grains and then burn medicinal wood to ward illnesses. They make
impressive Warli art and Rangoli to worship their cattle, their trees, their
rivers, wells etc and the Earth and the Sky as their principal deities. Some of
them live in Saputara ( the abode of snakes) on the Sahyadri hills bordering
Maharashtra, between the southern part of River Tapi and the north-western part
of River Godavari, who perform stunning acrobatic dance on auspicious events.
Therefore the word 'Dang' may indicate the hilly terrain and/or bamboo forest
area. Since their livelihood is sustained by the forests they inhabit, they
worship the forest in an eco friendly manner, without harming it in any way.
Many private companies now offer customized tour packages to these
villagers as Diwali holiday destinations to imbibe in the culture that the
cities seem to have forgotten. There are many such hidden hamlets that have
forever reveled in low decibels and perhaps will continue to do so.
If we can't think of the animals while celebrating this Diwali, can we
at least follow the guidelines set by the Supreme Court? For if not now, when
will the time to break the wrong traditions and embrace the better ones
arrive?
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