Diwali has always been the most awaited festival of the year. Diwali, festival of lights which brings joys, positivity and prosperity along with vibes, emotions, togetherness, sharing and caring. It’s a festival to express happiness through lights, decoration, clothes and sweets. This festival brings families,lost contacts come together even if it is just for a day but it does. A festival of gatherings, holiday, fun, sweets and so much more is going to be very dull this year, this Diwali along with Pandemic is going to be totally different from the last years, the year has been changed upside down with the outbreak of the Virus. The Virus has caused us tremendous loss, thus no celebration like before can be possible because of the grief the virus has caused, it took lives of people, made people homeless, jobless and so many other livelihood problems. There is a fear of virus, salary cut, lay-offs in people’s heads, the festive vibe is somewhere lost, people are happy and excited to celebrate the festival but not the obvious enthusiasm has been seen.
Not for everyone this Diwali is going to be as joyous as others or like previous years. The celebration pattern or style would be very different as the virus has forced us to stay away from people and hence maintain a proper distance to avoid getting infected. Likewise, Diwali gatherings are to be avoided as much as possible, even if you meet people all the preventive measures have to be taken like wearing masks,washing hands, sanitizing and social distancing. This year it would be very great if you stay away from people as much as possible because of the contagious nature of the Virus.
Celebrations can wait but staying safe from the Virus is the top most priority.
In which ways, Diwali is going to be affected because of the Pandemic?
The Pandemic has hit the country and world at large badly, everyone each day is living with the fear of the virus,the whole year has been only depressed because of the death news, falling shares, joblessness, starvation and no roof on head stories.
This year people have said NO to exchanging gifts, or buying clothes or crackers or any other stuff from the market. Those who are living with their old parents or have a kid are extremely afraid to even step out in the market. Many people can’t afford buying clothes this diwali, or getting their houses renovated or painted because of the financial crisis they are facing. There are people who have lost their family members to Covid and hence there would be no celebration for them.
The markets are missing the festive spark because of people not stepping out, the sweet shops have already seen a huge down in the purchase during the past festivals and are facing even this Diwali, because the buyers think it’s better to go with home made sweets rather than getting it from outside keeping safety first thing in head.
There is a NO to Crackers motion to be followed this year strictly, some states like Rajasthan have banned the Crackers because of the smoke caused by the Crackers. As we are aware Covid is a lung disease and hence bursting crackers can create a lot of difficulty to Covid patients and even to the ones who have recovered because of the damage caused to their lungs by the virus, hence its better to not burst any crackers keeping and thus not causing any discomfort to anyone including animals even.
- Sanitizers and Crackers
As we are continuously using Sanitizers to keep our hands clean, but many of us aren’t aware of an important thing which is Sanitizer carry alcohol and alcohol carry fire very fast. It’s our duty to tell everyone how to stay away from fire after using Sanitizers as it could catch fire. For that day we can wash our hands through soap and water inorder to avoid any sort of unfortunate happening.
- Winters, Covid, Diwali
This year the coldness of the winters can be felt from the first week of November, everyone is keeping themselves warm in sweaters and blankets. In summers, the virus evaporates faster as compared to winters, in winters the virus because of the coldness and moisture tend to stay on the surface for a longer period of time and hence it increases the chances to get infected. Diwali is falling in Winters, there is cold and celebration i.e. gatherings making us more prone to get infected by the virus
- What to do in order to keep yourself safe from the Virus during this Pandemic Diwali
To keep yourself protected from the virus especially during Diwali celebrations all you can do is
- Stay away from people, wear masks, wash your hands, don’t touch your eyes, ears, faces and not people even.
- Avoid coming in contact with any sort of fireworks after using Sanitizers in order to avoid catching fire.
- Eat only healthy food during the festival, like dry fruits, and home made sweets only.
- Make this Diwali a happy one for the less privileged people.
The people around you who are less privileged, financially not sound, the ones who provide services to us need our help and support. We should make sure every Diwali to buy things only from local stores, encourage others as well to buy things from roadside vendors or sellers so as to help them out. If possible we can publicise their work, like the work of potters on social media platforms so that people know about them and buy from them as they aren’t much known because they don’t have anyone to advertise their work, it’s our duty to help them. As, diwali is a festival of sharing, instead of exchanging gifts between families we can donate sanitizers, mask,sanitary napkins, warm clothes, blankets to the less fortunate people so that it eases their pain during these hard times and hence make this Diwali a happy one for each one living in the society.
Written By – Rituja Roy
Edited By – Priyanka Sukhwani