Have a bright, quiet and safe Diwali
Animals fear Diwali, because they are much more sensitive to noise than humans, and the loud fireworks terrify them. Stray animals on the streets have a particularly bad time because of the noise, the smoke/dust, and the junk left on the pavements.
Which is why I can’t agree with Jaitirth Rao when he talks about the ananda of bursting noisy crackers.
Noisy crackers are objected to by crackpot environmentalists who see pollution everywhere and deny that life on this planet is about joy and its pursuit. Varuna tells Bhrigu in the Taittriya Upanishad that the core of being human is not about the fact that we eat or that we breathe or that we think, but that we have the capacity for ananda. And what can give more ananda than a series of burning flower-pots followed by a series of red crackers going off and assaulting the ears…Sure, the gambling, baksheesh and lights are part of the festive spirit or ananda, whatever. But I do hope there will be less noise this I’m year. What can I say, I’m just a patronising kill-joy I guess.Ananda must be noisy, rejecting at least at this time the hushed tones of patronising kill-joys. Let us learn to celebrate with wholehearted vim and gusto our wonderful traditions of gambling, baksheesh, lights and deafening noise!
Bad for animals, also bad for so many people who may be sick in bed. I wonder how irritating and sickly it would feel for them in the noise of all those loud firecrackers…
Let there be light, not noise…
Comment by Kishore — October 21, 2006 @ 3:32 pm
And oh, :)
Happy Diwali to you and A. :)
Comment by Kishore — October 21, 2006 @ 3:33 pm
Yes, our wonderful tradition of pollution. Hurrah for culture.
Comment by Aishwarya — October 21, 2006 @ 9:31 pm
NO, you are not a killjoy. You are sensitive and practical. The fireworks is driving me and the dogs crazy.
But have a Happy Divali !!!
Comment by Jane Sunshine — October 21, 2006 @ 10:17 pm
How can anyone be sensitised to this extent, I can’t understand. How can a noisy Diwali be Ananda? When one is celebrating is it necessary to irritate the neighbours, scare the animals and pollute the atmosphere? As the science advances, the pollutants also increase. We should settle for the good old palm leaf crackers made by country artisans. They are less polluting, and give the pleasure of noisy bombs too.
Comment by P.Monteiro — November 2, 2006 @ 5:20 pm
Mind can be one’s friend or enemy. Mind is the cause for both bondage and liberation. The word mind is derived from man to think and the word man derived from manu (sanskrit word for man).
“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.”
There is no theory to be internalized and applied in this psychology. Ancient practices spontaneously induce what each person needs as the individual and the universal coincide. The work proceeds through intellectual knowledge of the playing field (jnana yoga), emotional devotion to the ideal (bhakti yoga) and right action that includes both feeling and knowledge(karma yoga). With ongoing purification we approach wisdom. The Bhagavad Gita is a message addressed to each and every human individual to help him or her to solve the vexing problem of overcoming the present and progressing towards a bright future. Within its eighteen chapters is revealed a human drama. This is the experience of everyone in this world, the drama of the ascent of man from a state of utter dejection, sorrow and total breakdown and hopelessness to a state of perfect understanding, clarity, renewed strength and triumph.
Mind is very restless, forceful and strong, O Krishna, it is more difficult to control the mind than to control the wind ~ Arjuna to Sri Krishna
Comment by bhattathiri — November 17, 2006 @ 9:14 pm