The Festival of Kites- Uttarayan

Last year, on this day I had got the privilege to visit Baroda for the kite flying festival-Uttarayan! I feel blessed that I got the opportunity to witness this festival in the very land itself which celebrates it with so much zest and vigor!

My husband’s cousins live in Baroda. The two young girls were super enthusiastic in ensuring no stone is left unturned to make this festive experience memorable for us.

So, the day before itself they bought dozens of large, colorful kites also called as Patangs. Some of them were beautifully adorned with bright hues and designs. These kites were made of thin butter paper.

The dori (strings) of the kites are used to cut down other kites during the kite flying event. They are called the fighter kites. Unlike that of the ordinary kites, the strings of such kites need to be coated with glue and ground glass so that they are sharp enough even to cut through the skin. These strings are then rolled up onto the firkees. Thus, we were all set with our auzars (The kites) for the next day’s event.

Being the first time, my day started with a new enthusiasm within me of experiencing the most talked about festival in the country. I could feel the excitement in the air from dawn itself. Friends and relatives had started visiting each other. The air was cool and windy which indicated the appropriate weather for kite flying. Mostly in Baroda, people live in 2 storey houses unlike Mumbai. Being a small town, neighbors and relatives are very friendly and keep visiting each other day and night. Generally, for this festival people like to get together at one friends/relatives house instead of celebrating it in isolation. In our case too, we all planned to meet up at the house of one of our relatives who lived next door. They even had relatives come down from various parts of the country just for this festival.

We were 5-6 families on the terrace. The elders preferred to stay downstairs. There were mattresses spread on the terrace. The kids could be seen running around and play joyfully. There were foot tapping songs being played on loud speakers on the terrace of every house in the vicinity. Since most of the houses were only 2 storey high, we could easily see groups of people on the terrace of most of the nearby houses. The air was filled with the aroma of jalebis and undiyos. There were yummy ghatiyas, jalebis, and dhoklas served along with soft drinks for all of us to devour while enjoying the festivity.

Since it was quite early, we could see only few kites in the air. Meanwhile we were busy tying the strings to the kites. That alone is an art because if it was done wrongfully your kite wouldn’t even take off. So, the experienced ones were put to task for the same while the amateur ones like us stole the chance to hog on to some more of the delicacies which were at our disposal!

Finally, when we had ample of kites ready, we entered the arena of kite flying. By noon the sky was swarmed with thousands and thousands of vibrant, colorful kites. Some too tiny as they were too far, some dangling mid air as it was cut down by a competitor, some sailing peacefully, some were seen struggling to rise higher.  Every time you cut down a kite, the tradition was to shout “Kosla”. It was the war cry.

The movement of the wind is very important to fly the kite skillfully. Nevertheless, one of the experienced cousin showed us a big flag erected far away which served as an indicator to the direction of the wind.

Our kite was flying decently high in air until we saw a rival blue kite trailing ours. We had to strike it first, but carefully, lest it struck us. The cousin who was flying it pulled the string harder though apprehensive. We watched his expressions which were filled with competitiveness. And then he roared with excitement “Kosla!” and we saw our kite had cut the blue kite down! We all jumped joyfully. We treated ourselves with more delicacies at this victory (which was rather our cousins)

Thus, we experienced many such victories and many failures too with our kites. My husband and I too tried our hands-on flying the kites though we hardly fared any good on it. But more than anything, it was the experience which we had that noon on top of the terrace which mattered the most!

Finally, after the tiresome exercise, we helped ourselves with some yummy undhiyos and hot rotis for lunch. I thought this was the end of it but there was something else in store too. By the time the sun started setting and dusk waved us good bye, kites illuminated with lamps and candles were launched in the dark sky. It was a spectacular sight. I was mesmerized to watch hundreds of lighted lamps float high up in the night sky.  And to add to the delight were fireworks in the sky all around. We spent the night on the terrace watching this luminous display of festive ardor!

Truly, the experience of Uttarayan festival in the land of the legends is etched in my heart. I await many such experiences in the years to come on the land where life breathes!