Diwali is festival of lights. With crackers, sweets and parties around, we wish that you enjoy all of it and have a safe and happy Diwali. Your Diwali fun and celebrations get adulterated by fire, smoke, heavy doses of artery-choking fats & sugar in quantities much more than your recommended daily intake! Here we present some commons tips to celebrate Diwali safely and happily.
Watch what you eat!
- Sweets are hard to resist and during Diwali, when there is plenty of colourful sweets everywhere, it becomes even harder to resist. Remember the fact that Indians are genetically prone to diabetes and so it is always advisable to keep sugar and starch intake to be minimum. Eat fresh food and keep your diet in balance.
- To keep yourself safe, check the expiry dates, along with other product markings. Kaju and besan sweets are the safest and they may have less chances of adulteration. Avoid chhena and Khoya sweets, along with sweets and milk products from unreliable shops. Watch out for adulterated milk and oil.
- Avoid sweets having silver coating. Such foils are often adulterated by aluminium, which can accumulate into our body tissues and can also enter into your brain.
- Make sure you drink water frequently. It helps you in keeping hydrated and also it satiate your false hunger.
- Instead of those ghee loaded traditional sweets, pick up fruit baskets or dried fruits to your friends and family.
- Make sure to have your blood tested before and after Diwali, so that you can control it immediately.
- Of course kids love playing with crackers, but make sure that a responsible adult is always present around them, someone who can keep an alert eye, who can guide the kids properly and can take charge in case of emergency. Keep a small bucket of water handy nearby when bursting crackers. Wash your hands and feet after bursting the crackers.
- Wear right kind of clothes. Cotton clothes are safe and they are also fancy and festive in look. If you are dressing up your child other than cotton, make sure that the dress does not touch the ground. Tie hair back, wear caps and wear safety goggles and avoid loose-fitting clothes like dupatta, stoles when lighting crackers. Shoes are a must.
- Eye injuries and burns, esp hands, are common. Use cold water to contain burn-damage to tissue and for immediate relief. Apply antiseptic and visit a doctor.
- Check the fire extinguishers in your building, and ensure you keep a few buckets water handy, particularly near the place you are bursting the crackers to guard against any possible fire break out.
- The decibel levels sure go up during Diwali. Make sure to protect your ears from these loud noises by using ear plugs or cotton buds in ears. Excessive loud noise can lead to temporary hearing-loss and even ear-perforation in extreme case. The noise pollution can raise bp and heart-rate and can precipitate heart-attack in the vulnerable. Apart from disrupting sleep and ill effects on health, the noise causes unnecessary stress to small kids, birds and pets. So avoid loud and noisy crackers.
- Air pollution is definitely a worry for those with bronchial asthma. Avoid going out and wear a mask. The smoke also causes eye and skin irritation. Keeping indoors and covered may be your best option.
- Crackers also have an environmental and public cost. The immediate pollution causes low visibility leading to accidents. The noise and air pollution cause unnecessary stress to children, the elderly, the birds and pets. Soil & water get polluted with elements like Sulfur, Sodium, Cobalt, Copper, Lead etc. Also think of the child-labor employed in the fireworks industry. All in all, there are many reasons not to burst crackers! A green Diwali is possible with electric-lights, diyaas, music and spending time with your near and dear-ones!