Come, fly a kite

Kites on trees, on power lines, on billboards… The International Kite Festival in Gujarat during Makara Sankaranti is a great time to watch the skies change colour, says Anantha Krishnan.

The sky is a canvas of thousands of kites and colours. Photo: special arrangement

Kites literally fill the skies of Gujarat during Makara Sankranti, also called Uttarayan festival. The whole state shuts down its regular shop and hits the rooftop.

Alighting the flight in Ahmedabad, I am blown away by the colourful kites adorning the Sardar Vallahbhai Patel terminal. Almost everyone on the street — cutting across age, gender and faith — has kites. Kites flower on trees and the power-lines are embellished with trapped ones. Bill-boards and bulletin boards carry kite designs and even the idols at the temples are decorated with kite-like ornaments.

Taking advantage of this fervour, Gujarat Tourism has been organising the International Kite Festival since 1989, just for two days before Sankranti. Fliers from 25 plus countries and from different states in India unleash the strings. Revellers come in droves to the river front to take in the sights of kites of all shapes, sizes and colours.

Unlike the well-behaved polythene kites at the river front on the first two days, the skies of Sankranti and the day after are ruled by mean-paper-fighter kites that are out to cut anything and everything near with the aid of ground-glass-coated

manja string. This breathtaking spectacle has to be experienced from the pol . As I wander through the lanes, a Gujarati family invites me to their terrace top for a life-time experience.

Climbing four levels of dark narrow stairways to reach the top, I can not believe what I see. The sky is a canvas of thousands of kites and colours and every single terrace is filled with people creating an electric atmosphere. And the noise level, caused by excitement and stereo speakers add to the mayhem. My hosts feeds me the kites to fly, but not one lasts more than five minutes as the criss-crossing manja of nearby kites cuts the string, allowing no room to step aside. Triumphant cries constantly emanate from terraces which emerge victorious in cutting other kites.

The day on the terrace starts at around 8.00 a.m. and is a social gathering with friends and neighbours joining in. “It’s a total holiday for us and we spend the whole day at the terrace” says Mrs. Parmar, a resident at the

pol . A lunch break at noon includes Gujarati delicacies like

Jalebi, fafda, till-laddu, chikkis and the traditional Undhiyu, a mixed-veggie dish prepared only on this day.

While the kites battle it out, a chai break is taken in the late afternoon. As the light starts to fade, a dramatic transformation sweeps across the sky, the kites’ place is now taken by thousands of Chinese lanterns that sail upwards. The traditional Tukkal or illuminated box kites have now given way to these relatively easier-to-handle Chinese lanterns. Fireworks too join in this galaxy of lights.

During Uttarayan, there are exclusive kite markets called Patang Bazar with larger ones at Delhi Darwaza and Raipur. These markets carry kites and accessories, such as manja -spools and protective finger-bands that help prevent injuries when flying high-tension kites. “We are a family of seven and we start making the kites three months before the festival. Our kites range from Rs.40 for a packet of 20 pieces to Rs.600 for a packet of five pieces. The manja -spool range from Rs. 150 to 200 for 1000 yards,” says a shop owner.

Whether you are a kite enthusiast or not, the festival is worth the stiff-neck and you will no doubt find yourself flying a kite in no time. A Gujarati family at the pol will only be too happy to share their festivities.

Slideshow : >International Kite Festival