Sounds of silence after the sparks

Weeks after Deepavali, the night sky has returned to its quiet state. For many of us, the festival is a memory of bursting crackers, for others, it was a week of anxiety, hushing terrified pets and waiting for the noise to pass. This year, while cities echoed with celebration, an entire village in the state was enveloped in an unsettling silence. Kamatchi Ramans documentary, Muted Diwali , released this festive season, ventures into this quiet to amplify the inequalities faced by the workers who light up our skies. Setting the stage The documentary peels back the glittering faade to reveal an industry built on a foundation of perilous labour and systemic neglect. The story is set in Virudhunagar district, a region synonymous with the firecracker industry. Towns like Sivakasi, Sattur, and Srivilliputhur form an industrial belt that feeds the countrys demand for pyrotechnics. The climate is a key character in this story six months of intense heat provide the ideal, dry conditions for manufacturing, while the two-month monsoon brings production, and wages to a grinding halt. Here, the firecracker industry is the primary economy, the most important livelihood for the majority of this district itself, as the documentary states. The Sivakasi Fireworks Industry 1,000+ licensed factories 8,00,000 workers (direct & indirect) 4,00,000 workers are dependent solely on this industry Rs 6,000 cr standard annual production value Rs 20,000 cr production value during festival season 43 explosion accidents (2024-25) 100 worker deaths (2024-25) The statistics paint a picture of a colossal economic engine. Yet, this engine is powered by a workforce living on the edge. Raman was driven to tell this story from within. I grew up near Sivakasi, and it has always been a fascinating place for me. I always felt a strong pull to tell this story, he says, explaining the origin of the project on the YouTube channel, Comrade Talkies. The growing debts The workers who handle explosive materials for a living are trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and insufficient wages. The documentary captures workers stating they earn between D6,000 and D8,000 per month, a sum that remains stagnant while the cost of living skyrockets. One worker recalls starting with a salary of D30 a day in 2006. Today, wages for rolling fuses have crawled up to D280. There are no formal benefits no Provident Fund, no ESI health insurance. In every house, there are loans of 5 lakhs, 3 lakhs, up to 10 lakhs... They are trapped in a cycle of debt, taking new loans to repay old ones, reports Raman via the documentary. This reality forces choices, often sad ones. As one woman in Selanayagapuram asks, With the earnings we get, how can we celebrate Diwali? I dont even have a 1.5 kg cylinder to cook with. A culture of neglect Beyond the economics of the place, the documentary highlights a critical safety crisis and a regulatory body that seems absent from the ground. Raman and his small crew found it difficult to get authorities to engage. We tried to approach the concerned officer from PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation), but they were not agreeable to having an equal, open discussion about the issues on camera, he states. This lack of accountability has deadly consequences. The film reports 43 explosion accidents in just over a year, claiming 100 lives. Workers speak of being forced to work in unsafe conditions, with owners violating basic safety rules, like maintaining a safe distance between mixing units, to maximise production. The film alleges a culture of corruption, where officials turn a blind eye for a bribe, allowing illegal leasing and overproduction to flourish. The result is that workers like M Ramaran, who survived an explosion in 2011, are left permanently disabled, with their families fighting for years to receive a meagre compensation that is now established at D5.5 lakh for a lost life. The biggest issue is that PESOs safety guidelines are not being properly disseminated or enforced on the ground. Theres a vast gap between the official regulations and the reality in the factories, shares Raman. Muted Diwali is a pressing need for reforms. It argues that the welfare of the nearly eight lakh workers and the growth of the industry are not mutually exclusive, but the former is a prerequisite for the latter. The documentary calls for the industry to be freed from the bribery culture and for the government to provide sensible regulation and support, not just bans that leave lakhs of workers, like the women of Meenampatti, with no alternative employment. Muted Diwali is available for streaming on YouTube.