Green advice on Delhi air ends in smoke and fire

NEW DELHI: At a time when poor air quality has much of Delhi in a frenzy, President Ramnath Kovind's Vijayadashmi address on Friday dwelled on living in harmony with the environment. The president exhorted people not to cause air pollution even while celebrating festivals.
Speaking at a ceremony organised by the Luv-Kush Ramlila Committee at Red Fort grounds, Kovind, flanked by PM Narendra Modi and several ministers, urged countrymen to draw lessons from the life of Rama.

The grounds resounded with the sound of firecrackers as Rama's fiery arrows struck down Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhakarna to cinders. The crowd cheered, clapped and whistled as the "demons" smouldered. Devotees chanted "Siyawar Ramachandra ki jay" all along.

Moments earlier, the crowd cheered on as Modi fumbled twice in his attempt to shoot an arrow towards the effigies. Incidentally, last year, Modi's bow had broken while performing the same role at the ceremony.

But before the effigies were set afire, President Kovind said showing respect to people of all sections of the society, especially the poor, was as much a relevant message today as it was during the times of Rama. He recounted examples from Ramayana to reinforce his point.

Kovind said while festivals should be celebrated, they shouldn't cause inconvenience to others. "We should keep noise and air pollution under control and maintain cleanliness. Lord Rama triumphed over Ravana only by keeping a balance between people and nature," he said.

Kovind added that Vijayadashmi gave out the message of adopting moral and dignified behaviour. "Despite being a learned man, Lankesh is forever remembered as symbol of evil due to his immoral and inhuman behaviour," he said.

Taking rounds of the corridors around the seating area while riding traditional wooden chariots were arch-enemies Rama and Ravana - engaged in the perpetual fight of good and evil, shooting prop arrows at each other. People rushed to gather the bamboo arrows, considering them to be lucky charms. The Ramlila stage, with its mythological setting and chariots, gave a dramatic backdrop to the selfies that thousands were busy clicking.

While thousands of people thronged the grounds to witness the Ramlilas organised by three of the oldest committees in the city, there was no dearth of VIPs either. A function organised by the Nav Dharmik Ramlila Committee saw the presence of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. Not far away, newly appointed Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was the guest at Shri Dharmik Lila Committee event.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal picked up the bow and arrow at the Indraprastha Ramlila Committee's celebrations. As has become a custom in the past few years, there was a fourth effigy: selected to represent this year's villainy, the effigy was named "parichit balatkari" - rapists known to the survivors. Kejriwal reduced it to ashes.

Ironically, claims of an environmentally conscious Dussehra had gone up in smoke by the time the various events concluded.