Utharayan the Kite Festival

From riding at 90 kmph to traveling at a speed of 5 kmph over a distance of 3 kms is not something that occurs everyday. But with the kite festival kicking off in full swing on Utharayan, there was no other option.

 

Utharayan or the kite festival is one of Gujarat’s most touted tourist attractions. It is celebrated on the 14^th of January every year. It basically consists of all and sundry getting on to the top of the nearest high rise and flying kites. No. It doesn’t end there. The kite fights start next with each person trying to cut off the next person’s kite string.  It gets very competitive. Cutting free the most number of kites with a single kite becomes an ego issue with people refusing to get off the rooftops even after dusk. The number of kite fights can be guessed by the fact that a week after the event, broken kites can still be found on the roadside, stuck on telephone or electric lines.

 

It goes to the extent that people have kite strings laced with glass pieces. I can just imagine the plight of the poor birds that have to fight with the kites for space. I walked instead of taking my bike when I went out that day. But that didn’t prevent me from getting cut by one of the kite strings. If while walking at 5 kmph I can get a minor cut, one can just imagine what would happen to birds or two wheeler riders. To give you the enormity of the situation, for a week before the event we had newspapers advising people to wear helmets and mufflers while riding two wheelers to prevent injuries. What the cops couldn’t manage to enforce in a year with fines, the festival managed to do in a matter of days.

 

Other than that the place comes alive with kites in various colours and styles. You get to see people making kites, kite threads, dying threads and selling them. You don’t need to go to a remote location or factory to see it. It happens on the foot paths besides the road at intervals of 500 to 800 meters.  Kites are sold in pieces or sets. The sets can consist of anywhere between 5 kites to 100 kites. The prices of kites vary from Rs 2 to Rs 1000+. While the 2 rupee kites are similar to the ones you might have made when you were in school, the more expensive ones are made fabrics in a variety of shapes. You can get a silk ‘miniature airplane’ kite for the right price. Need I say anymore?

 

As with any festival, it is also an excuse to socialize. Til ladoos, gilabies, chikki etc are some of the sweets made in huge quantities on Utharayan. These sweets are freely distributed to all friends and neighbours. If you think that people will get bored with 15 to 20 recipes of the same sweets, you haven’t experienced the Gujarathi sweet tooth yet. Gujju’s are renowned for their love for sweets. So much so that they decided that this excuse to binge on sweets and fun, for only one day in a year, was inadequate. Thus began Vassi Uthran which literally is the day following Utharayan.

 

It is pretty much a two day festival right now. But what has been done once can always be done again. I don’t think it will take long for the people here to make it another Navrathri or nine day festival of colours, fun, a little competition and lots of sweets. After all, how many of us could turn down an excuse to spice up our mundane lives?