International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

"I wish this lovely thin paint brush was little smoother, then this kite string would have been perfect”.
Me standing between the zestful surroundings at Sabarmati RiverFront, Ahmedabad, holding a real string of this magnificent kite between my fingers, I am thinking again - “Is it true what we draw turns out to be true in real life?”

Creative kites at International Kite Festival

Aurek, a kiter from Poland, who understood not even a single word of English/Hindi helped me in holding that smooth thick string in a right way. This generous guy showed me the techniques and tricks of flying a Kite at a cost of a single bright smile from me. HowI wish I could learn everything in this world like that!

​Uttarayan in Gujarat

​This culture of flying kites was brought in India by Persians, now celebrated irrespective of the caste or creed. ‘Uttarayana’ (Uttar: North, Ayana: Movement, movement of sun towards the north) is celebrated on 14 January of each year during the Makar Sankranti and continues until 15 January. This date marks the end of winter and the return of a more clement weather for farmers of Gujarat.  People claim, the scientific reason behind flying the kites was to get exposure to the sun after long winter season which was helpful in eradicating the infections and in-sanitation.
Entire India celebrates this festival with different names but with same enthusiasm.

Uttarayan in Gujarat

​International Kite Festival 2017

The International Kite Festival was formally started in Ahmedabad, Gujarat from 1989 with the aim of making kite festival renowned internationally. 
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The extravagant setup of IKF2017 was comfortably spread on a part of the Riverfront Sabarmati which ran for 11 kms on each sideways. The rhythmic veda chants by 100 plus students on that grand stage filled the space with an energy of oneness. That oneness was reflected in Suryanamaskar performed by 2000 students to the speeches by various honorable delegates, to the food & art stalls, music & the games played. Every individual’s chest swelled with pride to attend and experience the grant culture of India. 

Inauguration of International Kite Festival

Garba at Inauguration of International Kite Festival

Later in the morning, after the display walk of each nation across the entire venue, came the time for most awaited event, the Kite Flying time. Within minutes, we saw Dopero, Delta, Rokkaku, Barn Door, Diamond, Sled kites soaring high, finding their way out between the birds to reach the highest. Along with my trainer Aurek, there are 3-4 participants from each country, adding to 131 kite flyers from 31 Countries, 50 from 11 states, 198 kite flyers from Gujarat alone.

Variety of kites from different nationalities at International Kite Festival

Here the interesting thing was not to watch the Kites Flight & Fight but to see the variety and ideas behind the Kitemaking. Few tweaked in and mastered the aerodynamics of kites, while few focused only on its artistic side. Vietnam, who have harnessed the energy of wind not only in creating the movement in the kite but also in creating music (as the wind strikes those grooves in bamboo create a music).
The popularity of this game in other parts of India also brought together 11 other states, like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal etc. Some states aimed at promoting art through kites, others their history, culture, business, awareness about game etc. ​

Vietnamese musical kite at International Kite Festival

Brazilian kite at International Kite Festival

Local Kite markets in Ahmedabad

The interesting stories and experience of kite flying lead me to a closely packed market of Jamalpur in Ahmedabad. Visit to these places will enrich one’s general awareness ( in case you if you missed those spicy entertainment news in your travel) Here printed on the kites you will catch up the trending news/people/movie poster etc. At my time of visit pictures of Modi, Movie-Dangal, actors like Salman, Alia etc. steals away the show.

Local kite market at Jamalpur Ahmedabad

Kite-making is an environment-friendly cottage industry that employs more than 6,000 people (over 90 per cent are Muslims) These kite shop owners/entrepreneurs sub-contract their work to further 4-5 families based on the work-line. They assemble the raw materials (like paper, bamboo, gum paste, strings) from places like Kolkata, Bareily etc and process their things into the final products.
 
Challenge of seasonality in this industry helps them to hone their skills not only to kite-making but also other kind of businesses. There are few entrepreneurs who can sustain with the same work throughout the year as their business is spread among other states. While for other small businesses they switch their jobs to something else based on demand and profit.  Most of them faced a roller coaster ride in their businesses after the demonetisation but their spirits were still high.

Kite making cottage industry in Jamalpur, Ahmedabad

Safety and Care at the International Kite Festival

Safety of the kite flyers, people, birds and environment has been always a point of consideration in the time of Uttarayan. NGOs like Jivdaya Charitable Trust, PETA have extended their help and support for birds/animal safety. However, for human protection, measures likes preference of usage of cotton strings over nylon, stone powder manja over glass powered ones, flying kites in open areas, and placing a U-shapes wires as a visor on two-wheeler are followed by locals here.
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P.S. I was invited by Gujarat Tourism Board to cover the  #InternationalKiteFestival2017.
Pallavi Sharma had represented RavenousLegs at this event. The post and the pictures are to her credit.
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