Saturday, March 10, 2007

Holi,...causing pollution???

Holi is celebrated as the triump of good over evil. It is more of symbolical tradition where the old , dead branches leaves, grass are supposed to be burnt. this is just to show the destruction or the consumption of evil by a force so strong which in this case is fire .But people, just for the sake of tradition, cut down young, healthy trees, branches and burn them.
they fail to see that this causes pollution (as if there was a dearth of it.) when I was in India, this used to worry me because i never used to see the reason for cutting down healthy trees for tradition. Are people so blind to the effect they are causing on the population? dont they realize that their kids finally follow their traditions, just as you are doing right now? It is you who must teach kids about right and wrong. it is great to follow some tradition, but how about followong some science too??? Personally, i think in old days, the people found a great way to clear of the old diseased trees and making way for the new ones, by burning. One day a smart enterprising farmer decided to get his lazy workers to work by telling them about the story of Holika and how they must continue the tradition by burning trees/leaves/branches. His god-fearing workers got to work and hence a tradition was born. But i worry about the less oxygen present in the atmosphere. People, the trees maintain the oxygen-carbondioxide ratio!!!!! My mom says when she was young it used to be cold in mumbai and dombivili during the months of october, november i.e. during Diwali. I myself remember wearing sweater when going to school in the month of december. But the increase in population has caused Man to cut down more trees for Land to build houses, factories etc. the decrease in trees is causing changes in the seasonal weather and contributing to global warming. I am sure apart, from the Diwali, Holi causes a good amount of pollution in India.
Don't get me wrong, i have nothing against tradition. Celebrate Holi. afterall India is the only country where you celebrate so many festivals. But for Holi, please leave the young healthy trees alone. Get some branches which are old and dead. collect dead leaves that the trees shed. collect cowdung if you must burn something. And remember to teach this to your kids. because one day, it will be their turn to celebrate Holi, and there just not might be any trees left around.
Dipti

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