No cracker of a Diwali this

MANDYA: The cracker business did not see a blast this year, with sales nosediving nearly 30-40%. And if what merchants say holds true, then Diwali could soon lose the sound and smoke it is associated with.
Cracker traders in Mandya claim that their stalls were almost empty through the sale season, and put it down to either inflation or an eco-friendly public attitude, or both."We don't know whether people, especially the youth, are against bursting crackers, or if inflation has toned down celebrations. Whatever the reason, we failed to make good profits," said Chandru, a cracker merchant who has a stall near the stadium.
M B Naganna, a progressive thinker, said the trend is becoming clear: with every passing year, the number of people bursting crackers is decreasing, and for those who do, it's just a token celebration during festivals. Increasing prices are also playing a major role in deterring people, especially the middle class, from buying crackers.
"Awareness drives carried out by both electronic and print media also discourage people from bursting crackers. People are now looking of celebrating Diwali with rituals, rather than spending on crackers, which could also be dangerous," he said.
Sowmya, a homemaker, said that she changed of her mind about bursting crackers after a vernacular channel carried a story of how high decibel sounds kill embryos in birds' eggs. "I was really upset about it. I convinced my children not to burst crackers, and told them it was inhuman to hurt other species, it's also detrimental to the ecology and dangerous to us. My kids agreed to light more lamps instead of crackers," she said.
Merchants said that their main customers are children in the age group of 6-18, and parents are giving in to children but buying low-decibel crackers. It is mainly because young people are not too interested that our business crashed, said one trader.