The
festival of lights is around the corner, and as has become the norm, the
environmental clubs of city schools and colleges plan human chains and such,
calling for less noise, less wastage, and less consumption.
Some folks
are a bit fed up with all the activism and noise around Diwali fireworks and
noise pollution. In fact, there may be a strong case for setting off a few rockets and roman candles, some believe.
“Diwali brings with it the ‘kali poka’ those tiny green
insects. The change in season witnesses a multiplication of insects because it
is their breeding time. One method to control the insect population is to use
sulphur gas. The fire crackers during
Diwali release sulphur gas, which helps in killing the insects around us. Yes,
we actually control insect population by bursting crackers. But fireworks have
become a vexed issue,what with all the negative publicity and links to child
labour with the cracker industry,” asserts K. Srinivas, a social activist.
This week
Taru Mitra, (the friends of trees), India’s largest student environment group, called for going back to
the traditional earthen lamps, and shunning the use of those fancy electric
bulbs (mainly the cheap ones imported from China) that have become so popular
and ubiquitous. ‘Bring the Deep back to Deepawali’ is the new slogan.
Why this sudden insistence on
going back to the ‘polluting’ soot-spouting old-fashioned diya?
“Aha,!”
says Taru Mitra’s Jesuit founder and eco-spirituality guru Robert Athickal,
“One electric bulb is twenty times more polluting and harmful to the earth than
an earthen lamp. Look at the amount of precious electricity that we consume on
illuminations. In Bihar, we use thermal power, and we do have a power supply
famine. The diya is traditional. It is also earth friendly.”
Think of
how the skilled potters are starving, a social thinker might say. Whatever money
they could earn from the sale of humble earthen lamps has dwindled, thanks to
the shrinking demand. Let’s buy a few more earthen diyas so that these humble
folk can keep their home fires burning.
Latika Mishra from Jharkhand blogs, “Notwithstanding the
spiritual reasons to celebrate the festival of lights, there is a scientific
fact behind it.” She points out that the Diwali season is marked by the
abundance of an insect called the 'tiny leaf-hopper' of the cycadilladae family. This insect feeds on plant sap and can
transmit plant infecting viruses and bacteria. They are of sporadic occurrence
in the rice growing areas. They have piercing and sucking mouth parts and are
serious threats to rice cultivation as they can transmit the virus to standing
paddy. Nymphs and adults both have the capacity to damage the crop.
Rice has a close association with Hindu rituals. Sage
Parashara has laid stress on essentiality of rice cultivation and in his
treatise called 'Krishi Parashar' sings, "Rice is vitality, rice is vigour
and rice is indeed the fulfilment of all ends of life. Gods, demons and human
beings all subsist on rice."
Burning of earthen lamps is a way to protect the
civilization from starvation, as rice is the principle crop in the subcontinent.
The sages used the return of King Rama as a pretext to get people to light
thousands of earthen lamps, thus successfully removing the insect from the
environment, for insects are attracted to the fire and are killed. So, Diwali is marked by the mass killing of insects- tiny
leaf-hoppers and mosquitoes that are abundant during the season every year, and
pose a threat to crop cultivation and human nutrition.
What a beautiful, non-toxic way to get rid of pests! Now
pause for a moment, do those fancy electric fairy lights have any use other
than looking pretty, and gorging on electricity? The humble earthen lamp
provides a livelihood to the poor potters, protects us from biting insects, and
even wards away famine. What’s your call?
Author: Frank Krishner
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