Down the memory lane...Uttarayan

This is my first post on my new blog...what made me create a blog???
Well i dont know exactly why, but may be because everyone else is doing it??? :) ... or may be just to share a few thoughts or incidents that come up during the journey of life.
I wont define this blog, I just want to continue writing anything and everything that comes upto my mind...
Today is Uttarayan, a festival of kites, also known as Makar Sankranti. Like every other festival, Uttarayan brings in good cheer and celebrations, albeit its own unique way. Festive special food like undhiyu and jalebi, a sky full of kites, a home full of fun and the special bondage with family.
Makar Sankranti symbolises the onset of the harvest season and the end of winter(which hardly begins in ahmedabad). It also marks the entry of sun into a new zodiac sign Capricorn (Makar).
I was amused to hear the history -in India, the Kings and Nawabs who found the sport both entertaining and a way of displaying their prowess, used to employ trained fliers to fly kites for kings. What I cant understand is what pleasure would they be getting in only watching the kites fly...they should have tried flying the kites themselves...its so much fun...
Personally, I have a lot of memories connected to this festival, each Uttarayan brings me different memories of life...
As a kid, I used to go to my Mama's place, where all cousins used to gather. The preparation used to start from the previous night. All papa's alongwith the bachas used to go to shops to purchase kites, phirki, gundar patti (to stick the torn kites), toti (to protect fingers from cutting), tukkal (night lamps to fly alongwith the kites), dhaal (the big kites).....after getting all this stuff back at home, bachas were at the highest satisfaction level...then the preparation started to tie the kinnas of the kites...obviously that task was done by the papa's...while we kids were just happy to count the number of kites we had and to select the best ones for self...all the mummies used to be busy purchasing different vegetables to make undhiya....and prepared chikkis made of gud(jaggery) and til(sesame seeds).
It is considered that the reason behind preparing undhiyu is that it contains all vegetables, which is a symbol of togetherness. While reason behind preparing chikki is that til is a symbol of affection while jaggery of sweetness. Well but who cares what it symbolises??? we just relish the sweet chikkis and the delicious undhiyu made by our mummies... (which now i eat less thinking about my calories)
And then all the kids used to get up early in the morning hearing with the shoutings "kaipo chhe", "Ae lapet", meaning i have cut your kite, so roll your strings back. No alarms required on this day. The whole day was spent on terrace with no worries of studies...more than flying the kites, we enjoyed catching the cut kites...there was an unsaid competition between the kids that who would catch the maximum number of kites and also an unsaid competition between the elders...kiski patang, kise kategi?
Then when I came in college, I stopped celebrating this festival with family, I celebrated with friends...and more than kite flying, it was spending good time with friends and looking at the handsome guys and beautiful girls on the terrace....
And now when college is over, I neither celebrate it with family nor friends....everytime i hear the shoutings from the terrace, I remember those good old days, the bonding with the family, the fun with friends...
I really miss those days...