Festivals are the best time to cheer, meet and greet and also to savour the sights around us. Sankranti is one such festival and no one likes to give it a miss. The grandeur and the magnitude in which the festival is celebrated in villages can never match the way it is done in the city.
Snapshots of tradition
Nevertheless, the essence of Sankranti can be felt, to some extent, in every nook and corner of the city too. These festivals gives photographers an opportunity to capture the spirit. And surely so, social media floods with hashtags like #indianfestival #sankranti #traditionallook #traditionalfood #tradition #kites and what not. “Some traditions are fading. The muggus for this festival used to be big; now they are reducing in size. Taking photos of things which might not be a common sight later is a passion. It could be for your archives or to be used for educational purposes to people interested in our culture becomes a treasure. I like capturing the mood of people in and around the city during festivals,” says Sanjay Borra, a photographer.
Others say it is no less than spotting birds or trying to capture the beauty of nature. “It is a process and a feeling which comes to anyone who has a passion for photography. Nothing can match the fun of seeing your kite soaring high, or when you are able to ‘cut’ someone’s kite. Kite flying is becoming a rare sight now and who knows, when it might gradually disappear,” says Namrata Roopani.
While there are no organised photo walks on Sankranti, everyone does their own walk. Most photographers are not just eyeing the sky to capture the kites, they look down on earth to click the colourful rangoli too. “They look different everyday, and worth capturing,” says another photographer.
However redundant the idea might seem, food photos are never out of fashion. That is another subject that is widely captured on festival days. To put forth the right spirit and teach the traditions involved with the festival along with some fun, Dirty Feet, a hobby centre in Hyderabad organised a Sankranti outing for children. The children were taken to a village in Vantimamidi, in Rangareddy district, and they got to make sweets, savouries, draw muggus and were treated to a traditional Sankranti food. “We also flew kites and played in the paddy fields,” says Archana of Dirty Feet.
