Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Boom `n' bang

Make a wise choice

PHOTO: SHAJUM JOHN

FOR A REASON Opt for crackers that don't use child labour

Many of us play down the fireworks aspect of Deepavali for many reasons — safety, sound, noise pollution, and child labour. This Deepavali, you can still satisfy your social conscience by buying crackers that are anti-child labour or ones that promise to make less noise and smoke. These are crackers that cater to children as well. If your tiny tot insists on crackers, ask for the Chinese varieties. They are less noisy and more colourful.

Amongst the regular ones, onion bombs — little hand bombs wrapped in multi-coloured paper that have to be slammed thrown on the ground are safe.Long stemmed sparklers or the black tablets that convert to snakes come second. Nationwide, the Round Table Association is selling cracker boxes in three sizes — child set, imperial set and the maharaja set.

The child set has no bombs. P. Veerender, Fellowship Convenor, HDRT-189 says, "This is a part of the `Freedom through Education' project that aims to educate one million students."Shanti, a copy-editor who has bought one such box says, "Quite a few people have ordered it for a social cause." Anu, a BPO employee says, "The cause is awesome and there is no child labour involved. I bought a pack last year and the quality was good.Contact your nearest round table for more information. "

If you want more variety, Sivakasi has set up a factory outlet at Padma Rao Nagar. Here you can buy crackers by the kilo or by the box. A new pataka available here is one that comes as a huge carton. When you open the lid, there are two wicks in two corners, that when lit, set off 20 bombs in succession.

RENUKA VIJAY KUMAR

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail