EXCLUSIVE! Richa Chadha’s take on the firecracker ban in Delhi is honest and upfront

In the wake of the latest verdict by Supreme Court calling for a ban on firecrackers in Delhi, most people have been going crazy and not at all in favour of it. So recently, as we got chatting with Richa Chadha in an exclusive conversation, we asked her take on the ban and she just wowed us with her response.

She started off by saying, “Firecrackers is a problem. I don’t understand how people can fight for the right to burst firecrackers when they can see how bad it is for the environment. From animals, old people, babies, people with asthma, everybody has to deal with it it. It’s so disturbing and people say it’s Hindu culture. It’s not Hindu culture. If you’re a true Hindu please show me where it says or in which book it’s written. See, the air belongs to everybody. If you want to burst crackers, please go somewhere else. Don’t burst it in a city where so many people are already living with such high levels of carbon dioxide. Anyway, the Aarey forest is under threat. So, I don’t understand how these people can keep going on and on fighting for the right to burst firecrackers. They want to waste their money then they can just light their money on fire. It’s such a small momentous thing.”

She added, “You have to take responsibility for your habitat. Why torture other people? It’s so inhuman. I have a relative who has a respiratory problem. She is never able to stay in Delhi during Diwali. The whole family has to go because they can’t leave her alone. Because every time she stays in Delhi for Diwali, she can’t breathe for two days before and two days after. So you imagine if a mother in a family has a respiratory problem, can she leave her family and go for Diwali? Either she has to stay and suffer or the whole family has to go with her. Not just that, dogs go deaf, so many people lose their eyesight because of rockets. It’s so criminal to do that. It’s not fair. I feel that it should be banned all over the country and not just in Delhi.” (Also Read: ‘Jia Aur Jia’: Kalki and Richa show us their moves at ‘Nach Basanti’ song launch event)

When asked about how people have been going berserk over the ban, she replies, “No, the whole idea now is to politicise the issue. It has nothing to do with the firecrackers. It has to do with ‘Oh, let’s make firecrackers Hindu’. Firecrackers should be banned on Christmas and New Year too, not just on Diwali. You can’t just point out to one festival. You have to stop bursting firecrackers after weddings, cricket matches, just ban them. They are so bad. I hate firecrackers.”

Finally, we asked her how difficult it is to stay away from family especially during festivals and whether it makes her feel homesick. She replied, “Yeah, I feel very homesick. I get very depressed. Like tomorrow (Oct 19), I’m working here, I won’t be able to go home for Diwali. My family won’t be coming here as they are celebrating with the rest of the family. Some ten people are there, they will not leave it for me and come.”

Well, what do we say! We understand her predicament and wish her all the luck for her soon-to-release movie ‘Jia Aur Jia’ which also stars Kalki Koechlin in the lead role.

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.