Some Sizzling Scintillating Speculations

Where were we? Yes, 7 AM - to the terrace. Now, be it usual or unusual, the wind would always die down on Uttarayan day, from @ 930 AM, for 1-2 hrs and it would be fun to sit on the terrace and watch the kiteflying enthusiasts doing their best to get their kites up. By 1030-11, our family friends would begin arriving- a palpable excitement would be there, as they climbed up the ladder and began taking out their kites and phirkis. Let me add here, since the roof was sloping, and prone to attracting dirt, we would put a carpet on it, and use an old huge suitcase(They don't make them like that anymore.) to store the kites in. Keeping them under a stone sometimes led to the stone also flying off the terrace in the wind, and could lead to a disaster. And, of course, in the afternoon, the metal roof would get so hot that standing on it direct would mean everyone had to hop around to avoid the feet feeling too hot.haha. Our competitors would usually be people from the terrace two bu...

Part II: Finally, the day would dawn. Rather, after a sleepless night, the sound of people playing the bugle from their rooftops to welcome the kite-flying day, would filter in at @ 5 AM. The access to the sloping terrace was from the centre-point of the 2 V shapes. Two wooden ladders(one somewhat rickety-thank God no-one ever fell from it) one on either side would be tied to the window bars to ensure stability. Another thing we used to do was collect a bunch of thorny brambles that we would get from a friend’s jungle-ish garden, mount them on a long wooden pole(The longer the pole, the more chances of snagging a ‘cut kite’, you see) On hearing the bugle sound, a quick check would be done to see if there were any ‘overnight’ kites caught on the pole which would be kept vertically upright for this purpose. (How mean we were-sometimes it would snag people trying to fly kites from the houses which were lower in height and close to ours.ha) A quick breakfast, and off to the te...

Vibrant Gujarat!The kite flying festival is here. 2 days to go. The excitement on the streets is palpable. At every corner, there are people selling kites of different hues, shapes, sizes. Of course, the maximum excitement is always in the city area. Posh areas have people coming out on  their rooftops on this day. But, only one out of maybe 20 is flying a kite. The rest are just there for the 'event'- a time to stand on the terrace- look at the neighbours, wave to them, play loud music, do a bit of dancing- something like a 'Kit(t)ey Party', I'd say. Let me go back in time, to school days. Makar Sankranti used to be my favourite festival, at par with Diwali. We used to stay in our city ancestral home at that time. The first kites in the sky would be visible nearly four months before the actual date(14.01- this festival's date never changes). Of course, it'd usually be kids flying their kites, just like me. Or, kids waiting to catch a cut kite which would ...