Campaigns to create awareness against the harm caused by crackers, launched by organisations such as Nature's Soule and the National Foundation of India, a couple of months prior to Diwali, seem to have had the desired effect. To go by the reports of the pollution control boards, it looks like similar campaigns last year went largely unheeded.

The targets of these anti-cracker campaigns were school children. ``Our aim is to reach parents and citizens through the children, who are the prime users,'' says Sajiv Walia of Nature's Soule. Initially, the campaign did not target crackers, because, as Walia puts it: ``Crackers are a small issue, if we look at environmental pollution practically''.

When the campaigns began, through talks, group discussions and roadshows organised by individual schools, there were many who did not get the message. ``A majority of the boys said they would go ahead and burst crackers,'' reveals Walia. ``We had to take up the issue again and again to reach the children at a deeper level and make them question whether bursting crackers actually benefitted them in any way''.

The campaign seems to have worked to quite an extent, particularly amongst children in the schools targeted. Aditya Thakur (Class 10, Mt. St. Mary's School), who lives in Rohini, tells us: ``Very few children in our colony burst crackers, and they were those who are completely insensitive to the issues involved''.

Instead of crackers, Aditya and his friends organised parties, went out to eat and organised a dance competition in their colony. Ashiana Apartments in Pitampura also witnessed a low key Diwali. Says Tina Pasricha (Class 12, Kulachi Hansraj Model School): ``We had the usual pujas and dinners. But very few crackers were burnt and next morning there were hardly any wrappers lying around.'' Last year, the badminton court outside the colony had been under a sea of wrappers the morning after Diwali.

Shreya Jain (Modern School, Vasant Vihar), who lives in Shivalik, says: ``Every year, Diwali is a show of wealth, but this year was quiet.'' Other children -- Mayank Agarwal of Shalimar Bagh, Niti Bhatia of Derawala Nagar and Aniruddh Suri of Kirti Nagar -- vouch for similar situations in their colonies.

The concerted campaigns by concerned organisations apart, the children seem to display a higher level of consciousness towards the issues involved. Both Tina and Shreya have not burst crackers for years. Says Shreya: ``I've known about child labour and exploitation for quite some time.'' She did buy a couple of packets of phuljharis for her servant's children and she explains why: ``Crackers fascinate them and they don't know any other way to celebrate. I explained to them why we bought so few crackers for them, but they need to be educated before they can be expected to stop''.

According to Aditya: ``We, in our colony, had made a resolution on New Year itself that we would avoid crackers and sensitise other people to the issue as well''.

The issues of environmental pollution and the exploitation of children in firecracker industries seem to have made their mark on the children of Delhi and if this awareness grows, the city might actually look forward to a brighter, cleaner future ahead.