Kite flying and life lesson..!!
It is January.. Festival of Uttarayan, also known as Makarsankranti is fast approaching. This festival always makes me nostalgic. I am born and raised in Gujarat, where we fly kites during Uttarayan. We celebrate 'Kite festival' with a lot of enthusiasm. If you want to witness the madness of this festival, I would suggest you to please book your tickets to Gujarat asap!
In Gujarat, you will find that each member of the family knows how to fly a kite. It is kind of passed on from generation to generation and believe me, the charm of kite flying has only increased with passing centuries..! When the elders fly kites, the younger ones hold the 'Firki' (Reel), and while the younger ones fly kites, the elders hold the Firki. If you have flown kites you would know the importance of holding the Firki. Holding Firki is an art. While the kite gains sudden momentum with the wind, the firki has to be held loose so that it can easily rotate and the kite can pull the thread and fly higher and higher according to the increased air velocity. People jump with joy when the kite flies higher. It is such a pleasure to see it become still at a greater height. Of course to achieve the stillness, you have to control the kite and stop it from pulling the thread further.
All the terraces are flooded with people flying kites. ‘Undhiyu and jalebi’ are the mandatory dishes which are prepared on the occasion of Uttarayan. People gather on their terraces with families and extended families of neighbours and friends and enjoy kite flying as well as relish the scrumptious undhiyu and jalebi. Well, we also have a lot of Chikki, Papdi, chevdo, sev-mamra, til laddu, mamra laddu and other munch-ons handy at all times that day (just in case should you feel hungry)..!!
If you have ever been privileged to meet a Gujarati manas in your life, you would know that all our festivals are incomplete without music..!! Yes, you guessed right, we religiously take our music systems on the terrace and play it louder all day long.. We dance while we tie the kite, we dance while the kite flies, we dance even when there is absolutely no reason to dance..!!
From children to elders, everyone enjoys this day with the entire family around. Then, there comes a time when the ‘kite war’ is about to begin. You just cannot miss this epic scene. This scene is more crucial than winning the world cup..!! Our entire family comes to the aid of the kite flier and gives hundreds of suggestions to out smart the other kite warrior and win the 'war' by 'killing' his kite..!! All this while, there will be someone running live commentary about the whole episode, and sharing the breaking news with the eldest member of the family, who are either short of hearing or have weak eyesight. If we manage to 'kill' the opponent's kite, the entire family screams 'Kai po chhe' (We cut your kite) and ‘Aye Lappet’ (‘Start spinning your reel now’, which is done after the kite gets cut, you have to wind-up the extended thread) to the opponents with their lungs out..!! The kite war goes on for the whole day.
Okay, now let me share the life lesson I received from my maternal grandmother (Naani) on one such Uttarayan, which has worked as a pillar of strength to my character. After the kite gets cut, the person who flies the kite starts pulling the remaining thread swiftly, while the person who holds the firki has to start quickly spinning the reel before it gets entangled. But, no matter how quickly the whole act is done, the thread always gets entangled somewhere, just like our earphones get tangled even after putting them carefully. So, the part of the thread which gets tangled up has to be cut and the remaining thread is tied up and spun in the reel. We, as youngsters would often throw the tangled thread away finding it worthless, but my grandmother would always take it from us and sit to carefully untangle it..!! We would often tell her not to waste time doing that, as we can buy another one. But she would always insist on untangling it and keep the thread aside for later use.
Once she asked me to sit with her and help her with the untangling. I sat with her but after a moment, I got impatient and threw the thread away saying, ‘I can’t do it anymore’. That’s when my grandmother told me something valuable which will remain with me forever. She said, “I know we can always afford to buy another reel of thread, but if you can make an effort to untangle this thread and save it, you could use it again later. Also, tell me how many times would you throw such bunches away”? I had no answer. She told me to value whatever little thing we are blessed with and not to throw it away just because we find it worthless momentarily. She asked me to sit beside her and help her untangle it, while she made me understand the 'tangles of life', and how to untangle each one with patience.
She further told me that, “the kite is loved until it is flying up in the air. People would cheer and enjoy every bit of the moment, but once it gets cut, how many of us think about clearing the mess of thread all around?” she added that, “after the kite gets cut, people often find it painful to collect the messed up thread and untangle it, so that it could be used later. Not many people would do that. So you must learn to have patience to clear the mess. We must not run away from our problems, instead, sit and untangle each one with utmost care and wisdom. People will like you and cheer for you until you are flying high in your life, but once you fall down, how many of them are going to come and help with your problems?
People always like something until it is giving them the ‘high’, but once the charm veers away, they discard it and go around finding the replacement..!! That is the real face of our society. We have forgotten to inculcate values, morals, ethics and wisdom in our children. We have taught them that money can buy anything and everything they want. But we haven’t taught them to value things. Such is the case of most relationships today, people like to be around someone who is giving them the ‘high’, who is matching their status or looking good with them or is able to fulfill their needs. They would keep jumping from one relationship to another in search of the deceptive ‘highs, but would never be able to settle permanently because each and every relationship has ups and downs and one day, its charm will veer away too. There is no perfect relationship. People often lack wisdom, patience and understanding to sit and ‘untangle’ their messed up relationships.
So, this Uttarayan while you fly your kite higher in the air, do not forget to ‘untangle’ all your messed up problems with utmost patience and wisdom. Life is short and the problems are even smaller than you think they are. Try resolving it while munching on the ‘chikkis’ and ‘jalebis’. May the sweetness help you untangle all your mess.
Have a Happy and Safe Uttarayan..!!
(Pic courtesy: google)
-Nishita Chaudhary
