Diwali and noise pollution

Diwali means different things to different people. For some, mostly kids, it means new clothes, sweetmeats, crackers etc. For others, it means a few days of holiday from work. For some others, it means lots of guests, meeting new people, catching up with relatives and friends etc. But for some others, it means creating havoc in other people's lives by bursting crackers all day and all night. Last night, even though it was relatively quiet all evening, just when we were about to retire to bed at around 10:30 PM, we suddenly heard crackers being burst in our compound. Since we reside on the first floor of our building, we are the worst affected by these crackers. When we looked down, we saw a bunch of guys, whom I have never seen before, bursting crackers in our compound. So I called out to them and told them not to burst crackers as it is past 10:30.  They happened to be friends and relatives of our second floor neighbour who then came out and  promised me not to burst loud crackers. Thankfully he kept his promise. I cannot understand what pleasure do people get from bursting such loud crackers that are well beyond the standards of noise polluting decibels. A couple of days back, when crackers were being burst outside, a showpiece from the glass mantel inside our house fell down. Luckily it survived the fall. But the earthen lamps that I lit have not been so lucky! Half of them have become victims to the noise pollution. Because of the strong vibrations of the ear-deafening crackers, these little lamps have fallen down from the parapet and broken to pieces. Why can't we have a peaceful Diwali? If at all one wants to burst crackers, burst the smaller ones and for a limited period of time, without disturbing other people. Because of all these crackers, during Diwali, I am forced to sit with ear plugs in my ears to block out the noise, and also close my windows to avoid breathing the polluted air.  It has been ages since I have burst any crackers and seriously, I don't feel I have missed anything at all, all these years. Let us work towards making our world a pollution free one.