Uttarayana -Remembering Ahmedabad !!

My Day Out On Uttaryana.

It was a busy day for me yesterday .It was  a day I had earmarked for seeing and absorbing the colours of Uttarayan –the kite festival in Gujerat .Uttarayan coincides with Makar Sakranti and signifies the end of winter and the beginning of the movement of the Sun north towards the celestial space which heralds the summer months .From July it starts heading southwards and thus is called Dakshinayan –a move which will bring in the winter months .

It is a big, big festival in Gujerat and one cant miss the pulse of it .There is a lot of flutter in the city weeks before the festival date –with kites being sold  all over shops in the city .The vegetable markets are packed and one should be brave to try to venture into them because people are buying  vegetables to prepare the traditional dish called “undhyu”.Undhyu is a mixed vegetable –fruit, sweet and sour gravy which is eaten with puris and sweet ladoos or “surati jamuns”.!!I planned my trip out to see how Uttarayanan happens .!

A Stack Of Kites -Rows After Rows of Them  At The Patang Bazaar.

I first made my way into the Bopal area where I stay .It has a number of highrises and the moment I drove out and into the residential part of the colony (I stay in a secluded part of the area ),I could see why the festival was what it was known for .I could see desolate roads ,and crowded rooftops .I could hear drums being beaten(dholaks)and I could see men and women dancing .And I could see hundreds of colourful kites flying in the skies .There were small boys on the road who carried wooden sticks and had their eyes fixed for a falling kite .The moment it(the falling kite) neared them ,they would raise the stick upwards and give the thread of the falling kite a twirl and “capture”,it .It went on and on .I watched the whole thing with a sense of amusement and awe .!!I took several photographs of it .!!

But my main destination was the heart of the city –Manick Nagar , Kalupura ,Daryapur,and Khanpur .One has to be brave to get in there .The streets are narrow ,they are bustling ,they are cluttered with tea stalls and dhabhas BUT one can see kite flying at its best here!! .I watched with amazement how small children were so adept at flying kites .I also saw some amazingly designed and coloured kites .I even managed to buy a pack of 20 kites for 100 rupees .I talked to some of the old residents of the area .Some of them had been flying kites for 60 years .!!Kites are strung by a thread called “manjha”,made out of powdered glass .This helps in giving a kite a edge when it entangles itself with another kite or enters into a “war”with it .!!Localities fight with each other in “downing”,each others kites –as soon as a kite goes into the air ,it is a signal for the adversary to retaliate .!!Its much like a air raid over a city by the enemy –the plane has to be shot down !!There are champion kite fliers and they have kites which are specially made for them .So when Ustad Nizam Sheikh puts out his kite –everyone  recognizes it .He is a celebrity  kite flyer of his locality and normally will be challenged by a celebrity champion kite flyer of the locality adjacent to his .These are contests which are watched very keenly and celebrations break out  among the supporters of the kite flyer who brings down the opponents kite .

I watched one such contest .It was a enthralling experience as the two kites of opposing localities took to the skies .It is not only a matter of art but also of strategy .The kites skirted each other –trying to get at the other from a particular angle .And from a particular height .Finally one kite swooped on the other one from above ,Nizam frantically tugged at it –first gently  and then in a series of convulsions ,and finally a loud cheer as the opponents kite went into a free fall .The little boys darted off with their wooden sticks to retrieve the booty!!.Everyone started dancing –including me .!!A free cup of half chai -“cut”chai-was served and the battle continued .It was great fun and I never knew that kite flying was so competitive and generated so much passion .I had learnt another thing –experienced something which I had never experienced .

In the evening ,the sky was crowded with white kites so that one could pick them up against fading light .And when it got dark I saw for the first time “tukkals”-kites lit up .The sky was peppered with them .It was a beautiful site .

I don’t celebrate any festival –neither holi,diwali , sankrati or uttaryan .I am against them because I think they tend to do harm .Holi is dangerous –I have seen people getting blind because of spurious colour .In Diwali I have seen people being terribly hurt and animals being terribly frightened .During kite flying I have seen so many birds lying on the roads and fields being slit because of the sharp and glass coated thread .I wish one

 could balance our festivals in a way by which everyone can enjoy .This year we decided to campaign not to fly kites between 6am to 10 am and from 3pm to 7 pm .Thats the time time when birds tend to take to the skies .I hope all of you who are reading this will spread this message across .We need more birds  in the sky than the kites I saw on Uttarayan .Not less .As Charles Lindberg the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic wrote 

"I realized that if i had to choose ,i would rather have birds than aeroplanes "(his last interview before he passed away )

We need to protect the beautiful form of life called birds .I cant better their value to us than to quote what John Burroughs wrote

"The very idea of a bird is a symbol and suggesstionto the poet .A bird seems to be at the top of the scale ,so vehement and intense his life .....the beautiful vagabonds endowed with every grace ,masters of all climes ,and knowing no bounds. How many human aspirations are realized in their free ,holiday lives ---and how many suggesstions to the poet in their flight and song .!!