Diwali is one of the most important Hindu festivals celebrated all over India with a lot of grandeur and fervour. This festival is all about bursting crackers, meeting friends and family and preparing some delicious meals to enjoy with others. Different regions of the country have their own rituals of celebrating Diwali. For most of the Northern Indian states, Diwali is the new year and they worship goddess Laxmi and Lord Ganesh for good luck, health, success and prosperity. In West Bengal, it is celebrated one day before Diwali which is known as Kali Puja, where Bengalis worship Goddess Kali.
Due to this global pandemic, this year Diwali would be different as all have to maintain social distancing norms. So, you have to be extra cautious about everything, especially towards the senior citizens of your family. Crackers and their sound might be very harmful to their health and they can also be exposed to the deadly virus. So, keep them safe during this Diwali while celebrating the festival in these easy ways.
Tips to celebrate Diwali with older people:
1. Make sure when you clean the house before Diwali, keep the older people in another room. The dirt and dust can cause a problem in their respiratory system, especially for the ones with the asthma problem. Make them wear masks during the cleaning process.
2. If some old people have a problem in the central nervous system, then keep them away from the dust and metals like lead and cadmium found in the crackers. These can cause heavy breathing problems in them.
3. Due to the noise pollution in Diwali, your parents or grandparents may get irritated because of hypertension or stress. So, be kind and patient with them.
4. A sudden sound from crackers may cause cardiac arrest in older people. So, make sure to burst crackers while keeping a distance from them.
5. Older people with health problems should be kept indoors. Noise pollution may cause headache, appetite problem, sleeplessness in them. It is advisable to not bring them out of the house for bursting crackers.
6. If you are taking them out of the house to burst crackers, then make sure they don’t have any chronic health problems.
7. If your old-dear ones are having serious health issues like asthma, sinus, pneumonia, then consult your doctor before arranging any Diwali functions at your home.
Things you can do with them during Diwali:
1. Make rangoli designs with them and light up the house with diyas.
2. Decorate your entire home with them in different styles.
3. Adorn your puja room and participate in puja together to celebrate the Diwali evening.
4. Prepare some scrumptious recipes together and indulge in them with the old ones.
5. Play some fun and interesting games together.
6. Watch good movies.
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