As the festival season in God’s Own Country continues in all its splendour, the spotlight is once again on fireworks and caparisoned elephants, with social media divided on the issue of whether to ban them or not. The debate’s rather intense this year, especially in the wake of the fireworks tragedy at Puttingal temple, Paravur, which made headlines worldwide and the controversy surrounding the Thrissur Pooram, the biggest temple fete in the state, where elephants, fireworks and hundreds and thousands of people put on another display of pomp and pageantry that’s so typical of festivities here.
Techies, as usual, have waded into the debate, particularly on social media. “Why does God need to be feted with loud sounds…?” Sudhish Radhakrishnan, a corporate communications executive pondered on his Facebook page, eliciting several replies and ‘likes.’ “The abuse of elephants in festivals serves no tangible purpose, other than to bloat a few people’s sense of vanity,” wrote a technocrat. “Those in support of continuing trend unrestricted have no understanding of the clear and present danger argument,” his friend replied. Quite a number of techies ensured that an age-old quote by social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, ‘Kariyum venda, Karimarunnum venda’ (no elephants and no fireworks), went viral online. “Whatever happened to the good old state mourning?” wondered another IT honcho, questioning the government order that gave the Thrissur Pooram the go ahead, only a few days after the Puttingal tragedy. “Why are we deliberately putting people’s lives in danger? I am positive that no God wants to be feted in a manner which costs lives,” says Joshy S.K., an embedded systems specialist, in Technopark.
That said, a majority of them do not seem to want a blanket ban on both fireworks and caparisoned elephants. “A blanket ban is just not practical,” feels Pramod C., a senior systems analyst. Test engineer Neeraj G.P. explains: “The Arattupuzha pooram is said to date back 1,400 years and it was the premiere pooram until the Thrissur one came into prominence some 230 years ago. What makes a pooram a pooram is fireworks and caparisoned elephants, melams and a mass of humanity. To take even one of those things out of the equation would be unfortunate. It’s a centuries-old cultural heritage and tradition that’s linked to the very fabric of life in the places where they are held.”
Instead, they all seem to want is a more “disciplined,” a more “responsible” way of conducting the festivities. “The problem today is that religious festivals have become commercialised and competitive. It’s when custom becomes a way of monetary gain that we’re looking for trouble. The blanket ban should be on competitive fireworks. Let’s have fireworks without the chemical additions that are an assault on the ears. After all, everywhere else in the world fireworks are a display of light rather than sound,” says Neeraj.
Joshy says that festival organisers should stick to guidelines regarding the parading of elephants and attempt to be more humane. “Would they themselves walk barefoot on tarred roads in the blazing sun or stand still for hours on end. Then why do they imagine elephants will?” he asks. Pramod adds: “Even the small temple near my home in Maruthankuzhy celebrates its annual fete with a massive firework display. But they’ve been conducting it in a much more responsible manner recently but setting it off in a specially cordoned off field instead of on the road. These little changes save lives and I think if everyone – festival organisers, elephant owners, and people themselves put their mind to it, we can come up with a safe, workable solutions.”
