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The Paradox : divali, summer time, heath & the environment

28 October 2008 22 Comments

On this precious day for many people, I wish to ask some questions…

  1. Whats the use of implementing summertime if the electricity consumption over the past and next few days will be higher than normal just because of divali?
  2. Isn’t the use of firecrackers disastrous to our environment, in terms of pollution?
  3. Can’t firecrackers be a source of health problems to some people?

Electricity consumption and Summer time

So much discussion going around the introduction of summer time, but what’s the use if in a few days time, loads of electricity are being consumed just for decorative purposes?

Should not the authorities here create an awareness programme here ?
Is it a too sensible issue to raise here in Mauritius?

CEB gives only 3 bulbs away, I wonder if someone has changed the whole set of lights at home!

Just like in thousands of houses today, most of the electric bulbs at home will be switched on by mum, for whatever reasons blabla… and I will be switching them off again n again, till mum gets the message.

Fire crackers…

Where do they most come from???

China most probably, still people wont think twice but will celebrate…. until the day someone discovers that they contained toxic materials… too late then!
Without forgetting the side effects on our environment… where the remains will cause pollution for days, and on the other hand, their effect on our quality of air…

What will happen to those used firecrackers?

Celebration of abundance and wealth

Many people believe that it is a good time to buy. Often, people go out and buy new items even when they don’t need them. Advertisements and hoardings scream out to people offerings sales extravaganzas, bargains, discounts encouraging us to buy more and more!

When all the festivities will be over, then you will hear people complaining about poor economic situation, poverty and bla bla!

Sure, its a moment of celebration, so who damn cares about those BIG WORDS about summer time, environmental issues, health problems?

Happy divali then!

Après la mort la tisane…

or perhaps this one sounds better, prevention is better than cure?

Related Posts:

Mauritius Loto
  • http://themediaguru.blogspot.com/ carrotmadman6

    No matter whether it’s summertime or not, people will still use electric lights… That’s folklore – no matter how much “awareness” won’t change that. ;) & it happens only a few days per year – at macroeconomic level, electricity usage is negligible.

    The solution – use LEDS or even better… Fibre Optics!!! :P

    As for the firecrackers, there’s no doubt that the products are pollutants, but firecrackers of dubious origins may contain some irritating/allergenic substances. :)

    Cheer up… the world’s not flat! :P

  • http://preeteshprayag.blogspot.com preetesh

    Waste of electricity! Still happy divali everybody…

  • Dikshant

    This is a good post. Rightly said.

    However, Believe it or not, most Mauritians will never change their mindsets. They have never learnt about protecting the environment, etc. Everyday you see people cutting trees for whatever reasons, throwing litter everywhere (Ale get dan caro canne ou dan la foret…dan la riviere)…or burning them…with the toxic materials emanating….

    On top of that, the authorities do nothing….nothing at all…. There was a minister of Environment…is he still here? Mr Baichoo….not a single day have I seen him talking about environment…..all he knows is hindu temples…and Grand Bassin……

  • Dikshant

    Ena dimoune bel bel degree zot ena..mais zot pena okene vrai leducation….

    Ena tou le zour zot prier…montrer dimoune ki zot mari religieux…mais zot actions dire tout le contraire…….

  • Mike

    Maybe it’s time to go back to more ecological ideas like using diyas instead of electric lights. Firecrackers are a nuisance – the idea is a Chinese one mainly to ward off evil spirits but apart from their toxicity they frighten animals and give us headaches. After the festivities comes “l’addition”, when the home budget has been stretched to its limits. The public just keeps falling for those commercials, extravaganza at it’s worst.

  • http://dakshinee.net Daks

    Never thot of zis paradox :s

  • http://tushal.wordpress.com Tushal

    What Yashvin?had a fight with your wife?LoL
    Just enjoy divali..Happy divali to you, Varsha and family.^_^

  • http://angelmandini.blogspot.com Chaya

    Happy Divali everyone :)

  • Vikram

    Like a great man once said: ” Ti pays, ti dimounes, ti l’esprits” memsa banes ki declare grand dmounes la ousi banes ti lesprits em sa…lol…Kwar mwa…ena bez pu fer toussa banes bourriks la kompran…

  • Neel

    The more we use electricity the more the government has to pay. It is proportional because they pay for our consumption too. So moving 1 hour ahead for the summertime lets the government save 5% of the daily consumption. 5% seems low in percentage but breathtaking when amounted in rupees. Calculate 5% each day for one month. And sum up the whole stuff for 6 months. We are talking about MILLIONS of rupees. And like we all guess the government benefits.
    As for firecrackers and stuff many of us are least concerned about the global warming effect and the pollution or health problems.
    As a whole, the funny part is that when we will be on holidays at flic-en-flac during summer at 22hrs for the sunset we shall say: Il fait encore jour on va dancer?
    How ironical.
    Haha…;)

  • http://www.webdesign-bureau-of-mauritius.com Sachin

    There has never been any ecological mindset in Mauritius and people are not educated in this way. Let alone firecrackers and just look at our everyyday life where people stack all their trash in their backyard and set fire to it. The mixture of gas formed by burning plastic, paper, rubber and what not is sometimes enough to get people dizzy. Some even try to burn glass bottles. No recycling sometimes… all this has its importance in the framework and not only electricity consumption nor firecrackers. Anytime you get a piece of unexploited land it turns into a wasteland. Education will lead to action. The big problem remains: how to educate the people.

  • Avishna

    ~happy divali~

  • kaviraj

    dude.. move on..
    dont be stuck on china..

  • http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

    @kaviraj: lol, haha, that was only 1 example…

    @All : Bon appetit a vous tous :-)

    btw, mone bien tan zourer wiz mum akoz mo pane fou narien today… not even new clothes, whats the use? :P

  • http://metalikacrew.blogspot.com joyshan

    note that all these lightnings mostly come from china and no need to talk of quality. Bilan 1 set 300 bulbs neuf bruler…la majoriter ki mne installer mne bizen re-soudre zot circuit..wtf mo p aster sa pou mo ranzer ou koi…la lamp laterre? trop cher-> tou sa huile ki bizin metter la ek la breeze…in short plito asiz dan lakaz met zoli linz ek manz gato…pfff
    and before i forget [again! it has been almost 100 times that i have either typed or said that] HAPPY DIVALI!!!

  • Vicks

    CaV yash to pe vine divali “Grinch”?? lol

    divali.. summertime ou pas.. mo pas croire fer difference lor consomation..

    si sa permette gouvernment save imP cash.. mo pena narnien contre sa.. touzour feels nice aster letemps mo retourne lakz dan la semaine enkor fer claire :)

    and about people buying falling for advertisement.. budgeting tousa.. lol
    si zotte aC grand pou capve asT.. zotte bizin aC grand pou capve control expenses.. pas croire ki bizin blame bannes “SALES” la

    also ena dimoune ki paraite bien caring pou environment et ti pe fer reference a ministre tousala.. touzour seem ki lii bien motiV.. nice
    Mais Kifer bizin atan ministre fer kitsoz??

    @ yash

    Eta paress :P to pas ine fer narnien??
    mem si to pas believe.. at least ti capve help out..

    to ti pou fini apran cuit gaTo.. particiP ta.. its a good way to spend time with the family

  • http://dhaneesha.blogspot.com Dhaneesha

    hey ki ou gagner r divali…lol

    oui li 1 fete kot ena bocu pollution and waste of electricity, but yash…it comes once a year dear…so enjoy it…apres tou nu fete sa fuf…lol

    oui oui la to pou dire mwa to pa croire ladan etc…mo deja coner sa

    n ya…apres mariaz..pa faire palab sipa ..pa sone petard or pa alumer la lumiere….mo pou feter mwa ensam r mo belmer :P

    to kit lakaz to aller personne pa pou empeche twa ..hahaha

    mai la fin du mois to paye bill la :)

  • Bhooks

    Celebrating the triumph of Light over Darkness. Chill mate!

  • Peter

    Actually I’ve been reading the same thing in quite a few blogs lately…

    This is the wrong raison d’etre : “the triumph of Light over Darkness”
    This is the real and good one : “the triumph of Good Over Bad”

    Sounds as if we, people, almost forgot the reason behind to rejoicing on this day…

  • Bernardo

    My o my… Christmas is coming.. Will the Grinch strike again??

    but i strongly support your eco-crusade….

    Cheers,
    B.

  • Yudz

    i have been reading a few posts of urs, some couple of times, and i think most topic are interesting here. but you completely missed this topic man. seriously. you have talked just bogus here!

    diwali.. a festival of light.. u call that waste of electricity?? i’m sure you shitched off all lights in your house around 9pm rite? seeing the whole village/country light up for 1 day doesnt make a difference to you. so must have been the celebrations. i guess u didnt celebrate at all then! since you talking of paradox.. well.. its not a paradox that there is global warming and you are wasting your energy, internet connection costs, and especially Bandwidth, ..wasting other people’s time, and so on??!

    Electricity consumption and summertime: you ought to turn off your computer right now dude!!

    and by the way, there is no connection between summer time and diwali ok!

    environmental and health problem.. well no comments! bcoz in diwali we dont make use of firecrackers as such. just some kids celebrating in their own way! we dont see that too nowadays..

    i know you must be thinking: if you dont like my posts, why dont u just fcuk off!! and your answer in advance: if you dont like to see others light up their houses, why dont u just fcuk off, close your eyes, and switch off all lights in your house.. and maybe go to sleep?

    and its weird to see you didnt make any positive points of the festival! typical journalist style. i hope this is not just another Hate Blog.

    please next time concentrate on positive points.

  • http://www.yashawootar.com Yashvin

    @Yudz: Hi Yudz…
    Thnks very much for reading my posts and above all, for adding ur point of view, which I appreciated very much!

    You seem to have another point of view, completely different, but hold on, at no instance I say “f&ck off” to my visitors.

    The main point I wanted to voice out is that, while a huge campaign is being held to bring an awareness about saving electricity, people are purposely lighting up everything, without a damn care about that idea of saving electricity.

    But I fee that You have gone a bit too far by saying that I should switch off everything.

    Your comments are always welcomed,
    Cheerssssssss!

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