Good sense is seldom evident when celebrations are at hand. But this year’s Kali Puja and Diwali in Calcutta seemed to have bucked the trend — to some extent. The city remained unexpectedly quiet. The particulate matter count indicated improvement in air quality with regard to Diwali in other years, although its rise compared to the day before showed that the celebrations had not been entirely without crackers. That was particularly true of the city’s fringes and the districts. A girl died of burns caused while bursting crackers with her family in Malda, while the city of Howrah apparently could not tear itself away from celebratory noise and smoke. In spite of these aberrations, suggest reports, there was a will to comply with the Calcutta High Court’s order banning the sale and bursting of crackers. Neither the fine nor the length of imprisonment laid down for violations could be taken lightly. The alarming spread of the Covid-19 infection and its effect on the lungs lay behind the blanket ban on crackers. The court’s strictness and the experience of the illness offered a conjuncture of circumstances that seemed to have compelled a sobriety that had remained unattainable in spite of environmentalists’ warnings and rulings about decibel levels in recent years.

Fear works. That seems to be the chief lesson of the unusual quietness. The police did their job energetically, and were seen to do so, while the possibility of a spell in jail was clearly uninviting. But there was also the powerful fear of an illness that isolates and inconveniences, and can even maim and kill, while still remaining out of reach of full comprehension. Besides, numerous households are mourning their loss, or trying to save a loved one. Fear springing from many sources rather than a sudden growth in civic sense is possibly the reason behind the compliance. The police with their best efforts could not have achieved this without the conscious cooperation of the public. It is hoped that the virus will leave, or be controlled. One source of fear would disappear. Would society then show its civic sense by keeping Kali Puja and Diwali decently quiet and air pollution free?