Lauren

Makar Sankranti: Let’s go fly a kite!

On Tuesday (14th of January) I saw something absolutely extraordinary! I was awoken by laughter and shouting, I pulled back the curtains to see what was going on. The skies were full of tiny kites. I have never seen anything like it. Absolutely thousands of them dancing in the wind. Families and friends were gathered on every rooftop for miles around, all flying kites. This beautiful sight welcomed me to my first Makar Sankranti.

kites fill up the sky

Makar Sankranti is the Hindu harvest festival and is celebrated on the day the sun enters the astrological sign of Capricorn. Makar means Capricorn while Sankranti indicates movement- which makes sense. The days are now going to start becoming longer and warmer!

The festival is celebrated slightly differently in different Indian states. The festival is known as Pongal in South India where sweet rice milk is served, and in Gujarat the elders give the younger family members gifts. Meanwhile in the state of Punjab fires are lit the night before  and the day of the festival, known as Maghi, is full of feasts and traditional dancing. Wherever you are in India, the harvest festival is celebrated with kites, sweets and friends!

Here in Maharashtra, ladoos made of  sesame seeds and jaggery (tilgul ladoos) are exchanged. My mother-in-law explained it nicely, she told me that during this day we eat sweet things and say sweet words ( tilgul ghya, goad goad bola). It is a time to make an extra effort to forgive, dissolve grudges and strengthen friendships. 

tilgul ladoos makar sankranti yummy

Everyone else in the house had to go to work, so I was left alone with my thoughts watching the kites from our terrace. Just as I started to feel a little lonely I heard the familiar banging on our front door. Not a subtle tapping or a gentling knocking, it sounded like someone was trying to break the door down. Most people ring the door bell but there is one person who still cannot reach it and always makes sure he is heard, our three year old neighbour. I opened the door and sure enough, he was stood there with his kite.

kite flying
Lauren Didi?

We went onto our terrace and I made my first attempt to fly the kite, how hard could it be? Whilst the other kites were flying so high they were nearly in the clouds, ours fell onto the floor like a brick. Slowly getting more and more frustrated with my inability to fly the kite and my nonexistent Hindi (he was trying desperately to instruct me), he collected his kite and made his way to the exit and slammed the door, scolding me as he went.

Seconds passed and he had made it all the way up the stairs and into his house,  he then realised the end of the string of his kite was still in our terrace, ‘Lauren didi!!’ he shouted. No matter how much I tried I could not find the source of this never ending string or untangle the string that was in sight, it was wound around plant pots and knotted in the branches of shrubs. I probably couldn’t make a web like that if I tried! In the end I made the decision to take the scissors to it (reminding me of the time I had a knot in my hair so large that it started to develop a personality) and off he went a second time (his thunder was a little deflated this time around after having to return after his grand exit).

Let's go fly a kite!

During Harvest festival in England, we would go to church or school with a can of broad beans (or whatever is in the cupboard) and sing ‘cauliflowers fluffy and cabbages green’. I have fond memories of harvest festival as a child, it would usually fall the week before my birthday (last week of September) and the moon was always full and red. Churches and schools are decorated with food to celebrate the harvest and after the service this food would be donated to the needy.

From dawn until dusk the sky remained full of kites. People were spending their entire day on their rooftops, enjoying the cool weather and the company of their friends. The different colours and different designs were wonderful.

The next day was a little sad though, where there were once stalls of pristine kites lined up ready to be sold and soar into the sky, there now hung broken and limp kites from trees and telephone lines. Once majestically prancing miles above the ground in the crystal clear sky and now chained by their own broken strings, bound there for their own eternity until they someday disintegrate. I am already looking forward to the next Makar Sankranti with its message of forgiveness and positivity… I should probably brush up on my kite flying abilities in the meantime.

Wishing you all a positive start to the new year! Tilgul ghya, goad goad bola!

 

44 comments

  1. Aww..that little guy is soo cute !
    I miss flying kites. When I was small everyone used to fly kites all through summer, but now Makar Sankranti is probably the only day we get for this 😦

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  6. Cute story. But, one has to be very careful about kite flying on terraces. People fall all the time and it’s dangerous even with barricades around the periphery of the terrace/roof top.

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  7. What sweetness! Makes me remember something similar from my childhood. I too was almost 3 year old (and still remember faintly). My neighbor’s house was my father’s boss. He had two beautiful daughters, who were mad after me. Would look for my coming every evening when my mother would take me to them, and upon getting there the two sisters would shower their adolescent motherly love on me. They were young, yet very mature, quite unlike the girls of this gen. Forgiving of all my destructive activities, preparing my favorite dish and feeding me with their own hands. Never felt such love ever since in my life, from non-family member. Yes, I called them didi (elder sister) as well.

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  11. Hi Lauren!!
    your lil neighbour seems to be super cute 🙂 n i loved his “Lauren Didi” 😀 hahahahha 🙂 I’m really glad that you are learning Indian customs so religiously 🙂

    wishing u and your family a happy makar sankranti 🙂

    hope next year, we’ll see you n ur lil neighbour flying kites together 🙂
    All d best 🙂 take care

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  13. Aww so wonderful. ♥
    It’s nice to be reminded of kindness, sweet words and forgiveness. What a wonderful thing to celebrate. 🙂
    If it makes you feel any better, my Hindi is barely existent. Hahaha… And if you couldn’t tell, I’m fascinated with Hindi and dedicated to learning it.
    It just gets so confusing when I start learning on my own, and DN says, “No that’s the formal way to say it.” or “No, we don’t say that, we just use English to say it.” hahaha…
    But, I’ll get a better idea of everything once I’m there, and submersed in the language.
    Hahahaha… “Reminding me of the time I had a knot in my hair so large that it started to develop a personality.” I love your sense of humor. 😀

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  14. I was smiling and laughing while reading this post, seeing the change in your lifestyle and how you are adapting to it. So, how much Hindi and Marathi you have learnt so far? I can see few words and phrases in the posts here and there that make it interesting. 🙂

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  15. We never knew about this tradition before, and we loved reading your post to find out more. We were out flying our kite on Tuesday as well, but instead of terraces our challenge was to untangle the string from cacti (we’re in Western Mexico at the moment). Thanks for capturing this beautiful festival 🙂

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  16. Your all blogs are really awesome and I was very happy to read your all posts…I personally feel that your first “Makar Shankranti” moments in India were very enjoyable and unforgettable.. Curious for your next blog about Indain Culture.
    “Proud to be an Indian”….:)

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  18. This is what I miss about India. In India we have a neighbour, barely 6 years old and he comes over to our house to watch television(he has a television in his house), do his homework and listen to a story(from our mouths). Little kids are the cutest and if they are your neighbours, they easily form a bond that is hard to break. He calls me bhaiyya(older brother).

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  19. Wow what an awesome article! I LOVE the pictures! That sounds like such a fun festival. Next year you should make an epic kite that everyone will comment on!! lol

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  21. […] It’s Makar Sankranti (the kite festival) in a couple of days and kites are starting to take over the skies, attached to children taking over the streets. Last Makar Sankranti, I was landing in Mumbai after my English Christmas holiday and the children who live in the slums surrounding the airport were all standing on the corrugated iron roofs, flying kites. I had never seen so many kites in my life! The year before last, I upset our small neighbour by being unable to help him fly his kite… […]

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