CELEBRATE AND FLY HIGH LIKE A KITE THIS YEAR WITH MAKARSANKRANTI

Category: Religion

If you want to see colourful geometric figures flying in the air, you have to wait for few days, if you want to see family get together on terraces you will have to wait for few days and if you want to see a fun but fierce competition then you again have to wait for few days. Yes because after few days, it is Makarsankranti or famously known as “Uttarayan”, when the happiness flies in the air like a rainbow and victory shots of “kai po che” are shout out loud. I precisely enjoy this kite flying fest for I learned more every time I experienced it. As a child I remember I once said to my dad, “Dad I have bought a colourful kite. We will go to terrace tomorrow morning and fly it.” He started laughing. “Kiddo it is not that easy. It requires a lot of understanding and team work to fly a kite.” The next day I realized he was right. The coordination between the flier and the one rolling out the manjha is very important. In fact, these mechanics are best understood at Ahmedabad, where the heart of all the action lies. In Ahmedabad, days prior to the festival, the market is filled with enthusiasm and kites are bought in large numbers. On the day of Makarsankranti, families and friends gather in terraces and kite flying contests take place mid air. The kite flying competition is also held on a large scale where masters of kite makers and fliers participate from across the world. It doesn’t end here, even after sunset we see a beautiful sight of lanterns in the sky looking like bright stars. It is a happy fact that the festivals in India are incomplete without food. So is the Uttarayan in Ahmedabad. You can savour the tasty vegetable Undhyu and the orange crooked spirals called Jalebee, a sweet that is a perfect accompaniment to Undhyu. We also see a dash of Bollywood (pictures of actors and actresses) on some of the kites flying in the air. Such is the frenzy during the kite flying festival in Gujarat. Whether you name this festival as ‘Uttarayan’ or ‘Pongal’ or ‘Khichdi’, the fanfare is all across India. Every festival in India is attached with beliefs and traditions. Makarsankranti is the festival of new beginnings, new commitments and new resolutions. With every year I lived, I experienced a new learning with this festival. Sometimes it was about team work, sometimes it was about forgiveness and sometimes it would be about competition. But what I remember and will always cherish is the words of my dad – “Life has a subset of dark nights and shining lights, what you choose to be makes you bright or fright, with each good night you fight, fight to be right, fight to fly high like a kite.”