A festival in Nagpur brings happiness, dancing, celebrations, great food, togetherness and a sense of our great culture. It brings together people of different caste and religion to celebrate without boundaries or prejudice.
However, the festivals also bring some unwanted nuisance, which can be avoided, but never is. Pollution, garbage and high noise levels are treated as part and parcel of festivals but they shouldn't be, they were never meant to be. Riding bikes in groups around the city honking extensively, bursting high pitch crackers, loud speakers at every corner playing loud music are some common nuisance tools which are practised by almost everyone celebrating a festival.
Festival of Noise?
Diwali was meant to be a festival of lights, not a breathing hazard, Ganesh Chaturthi was introduced by Bal Gangadhar Tilak to increase the sense of Oneness in a divided society, it wasn't meant to pollute water bodies and damage eardrums with mind numbing DJ beats. The same is true for festivals of all other religions, where peace and quiet mingling amongst the community has turned into boisterous and noisy affairs.
It is also common knowledge that pollution sees a spike during festivals .Now it has been backed up by studies conducted by Central Pollution Control Board of India in the year 2020, where noise and air pollution levels were compared before and during festivals. The results concluded that both were up by a minimum of 1.25 times the pre-festival levels.
In the days of social media, this situation has escalated to another level. People care more about showing how much fun they are having without taking into consideration the well being of their fellow citizens. Festivals in Nagpur are a coming together of society to celebrate peace and fulfilment, in order for it to remain the same, Nagpurians need to stop treating it as an occasion of destructive chaos.
Comments