Stop bursting crackers or maybe not?

It is sometimes said that the best intentions of mankind might do more bad than good for the society at large.

Given that its Diwali,  a relevant topic is whether we should burst crackers or not. Obviously, the initiative is in support of a go-green movement.  But, will this good intentioned movement, create more problems than solve any?

If you’ve read Shantaram (by Gregory David Roberts), you might understand what I am trying to say here. There is a passage in the novel, where he describes how he used to take hot water baths twice in the day. And for that there were labourers who would manually carry pots of hot water up several flights of stairs (this was somewhere in the 80’s). When Shantaram comes to know of it, he feels quite guilty about it and decides to stop his practice. But in doing so, as his friend Prabhakar explains, his good deed will only serve to imbalance the eco-system, by snatching away those labourers livelihood.

So as  I wondered about this “don’t burst crackers movement”, I was also thinking about the zillions of people who are engaged in this industry. If collectively we do happen to embrace this movement, what will happen to the people engaged in this industry? Someone might say – rehabilitate them…but most of us know that it is easier said than done.

Before the movement can gain any momentum, we will need to provide actionable plans to rehabilitate these people. Till then, enjoy burst crackers (but with restraint:)).

Happy Deepavali!