Lest sound and smoke of firecrackers scare away the winged visitors

Deepavali normally evokes the thought of bursting crackers, particularly among the young. But there is a village near Puducherry where for more than three generations bursting of crackers is a taboo. Kazhuperumbakkam, a non-descript village, has not seen bursting of crackers by residents in several years.

The locals have been abstaining from the pleasure of using crackers on the occasion of Deepavali not for saving money but to protect a large colony of fruit bats that have settled on a large banyan tree in the village.

Hundreds of fruit bats which belong to the Indian Flying Fox species are being protected and worshipped by the locals who point out that the sound of crackers and also the smoke arising out of the use of crackers would definitely scare away the winged visitors and they would never return to the village.

R. Ayannar, a septuagenarian, claimed that crackers had been totally banned in the village for more than three generations. The bats would leave the banyan tree at 5 p.m. and return at around 4 a.m. the next day. This has been the practice for years together. He pointed out that the locals wear new clothes and exchange greetings and also sweets on Deepavali. But crackers are a taboo in the village which has around 350 families.

D. Vijayalakshmi, class X student of a government school in the panchayat, said that those who are interested in bursting crackers are dissuaded by the villagers. We do not use crackers even for local village festivals, she said.

Poachers and members of the Narikorava community are a major threat as the meat of the mammal is believed to cure asthma and other respiratory problems. If any outsider ventures to poach the winged visitors. the locals gang themselves together and tie up the poachers and even impose fines for trespassing into the village with the intention of shooting down the animals.

Instances of poachers being brought to book have happened on several occasions. The animals’ droppings have also resulted in several fruit bearing trees like Jamun coming up in the vicinity of the village adding to the bio-diversity of the region, villagers said.