Change is inevitable. Without change the evening skies wouldn’t have looked beyond beautiful and without change the earth wouldn’t have been in such a dire condition. So change is both a boon and a bane. But today we will be talking about a change for a better tomorrow. There has been a lot of hue and cry about saving the environment for years now but it’s always just a specific section of the society that carry out significant works. Activists, philanthropists and the richer section do as much as they can. But all their efforts never trickle down as layman continues to fling plastic wrappers on the road or water bodies despite knowing its repercussions. But a positive change is slowly coming out of its bud to bloom soon. And this change was seen in the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations this year.
As September rolls in, the house is filled with the aroma of sweets and other delicacies for the Chaturthi. Everyone come together to clean and decorate the house to welcome Ganesh. Later the idol is installed with the bursting of a range of firecrackers in the background. And on the last day the statue of plaster of paris is immersed in a nearby river which is again accompanied with the noisy firecrackers and with that the festival comes to an end. This was the way it was celebrated all these years but now it is not the same. As more and more people are being aware of earth’s degrading condition and its effects, certain things are undergoing a transition. A very subtle transition on the ground level that can save the future generation some more lives. Customs and traditions existed for a purpose but continuing them blindly disregarding the present scenario is something that can be considered absurd.
It is ironic that the deity praised the nature and we destroy the nature itself to celebrate his birth. If he were to exist in this tech world, he would probably be there face palmed. It starts with the sculpture itself which is made of highly toxic plaster of paris. But this is changing as people are going for mud idols. Other initiatives include tree Ganesh in which there is a mud idol with seeds in it. Instead of its immersion, one simply has to water it which settles the mud and then continue watering it till the plants grow. This is something much better than disturbing the aquatic ecosystem by dumping plaster of paris in it. If not this then there are various other alternatives such as paper Ganesh which can be recycled or an idol made out of food grains or other eatables such as chocolate. These ways are less to not harmful at all to the environment. Also, instead of buying a plaster of paris carving it is more agreeable to opt for such other ways which are more environment friendly and also guilt free. Not to mention many households took the efforts of going that extra mile and making this possible.
With water pollution covered, next comes the air and noise pollution. The reason behind why people mainly kids love bursting firecrackers even though they cause a lot of commotion and smoke will always remain a mystery. Except for the spectrum of colours that pleases the eye, nothing else about it is pleasing. Yet, humans still continue to indulge in that activity. But this hopefully won’t be the case in some years. Not all, but in some mindful households these boxes of firecrackers piled with and went on piling given by the guest but they never saw the night. Firecrackers just lied there looking sad but they weren’t lit. And while we are mentioning guests, instead of the gifting the generic firecrackers, they went for the sweeter side and gave boxes of chocolates or exchanged the traditional eatables instead. Some took the minute things into consideration and reduced the use of plastic and went for other recyclable options such as paper or cloth bags.
Certainly this didn’t take place everywhere but even if few went ahead with this then chances are that these few may turn out to be many tomorrow so that the celebrations become less ironic and more guilt-free. It is the responsibility of every individual to take care of their surroundings so that the environment can breathe. Of course publishing such write-ups won’t make a massive change but appreciating the subtle changes is also important. And if this inspires at least one person then it all becomes worth it. After all, we all strive for a better tomorrow so why not work towards making one?
