BTC Kite Festival: 15.01.2017

A well crafted and well designed piece of paper tethered with a string, in the right hands, can fly like a bird. Soaring in the mighty sky, following the wind, battling with the wind and dancing with the fellow birds. A human soul is not far different from a kite. We fly all the time, we battle all the time. The conglomerate of human souls flying and dancing together in this heavenly blue planet we call earth, isn’t that life? Who are we tethered to? Almighty? Energy of nature? Well, that’s our choice to believe.

Recently I got a chance to become a part of something extraordinary. A bunch of people from all over India, and one Nepali (yeah that’s me) coming together to celebrate the mega-festive day of Makar Sankranti, Lohri, Bihu and  Pongal by flying kites. And the best part is yet to come. We played and we celebrated with the most amazing kids from Children’s home.

I remember back in home, celebration used to quite different. Though it’s peak winter this time of the year we would wake up early, take pilgrimage to the  nearest holy river and take a dip in that icy cold water. Later in the day we would prepare a super awesome dish called ‘khichdi’. The following week would be the ultimate winter ‘mela’ in the villages and cities alike. Some kids would fly kites but unfortunately I was never one of those and this event organized by the Bangalore Trekking Club was going to be the first ‘kite flying’ experience for me.

As I have come to know during my six months stay, Bangalore is massively cosmopolitan. Here we have such a variety of people with different background, culture, language, hobbies. So it’s always a treat when you get to hang out with a group of people, especially who have similar interest. “Love for the nature and service for the society” is what brought me in touch with Bangalore Trekking Club.

Thanks to the organizers for coming up with such a beautiful way to celebrate the day. We got a chance to unleash the kids hidden deep inside us while playing with the kids. The  event started with a formal ‘introduction’ program and the minute later it started feeling as if we had been friends for quite a while. Most of us were novices in flying kites and very few kids had actually flown  a kite before. So there was a chance to play, to learn and to enjoy. What’s the best part about flying a kite? I would say it’s the feeling you get when you hold your spool and feel a tug created by the kite flying high in the sky. You immediately connect with the flying kite, you feel jealous, you feel happy.

Now, add this to the feeling: you are holding the cutest kid from children’s house, both of you looking at the flying kite, you secretly wondering inside: who is more excited? You or the  kid you are holding? You are teaching kids how to make the kite take the initial leap in the wind and see how happy and eager they are to see their kites fly. Yes, how eager to take the leap and fly with freedom, fly like birds, just going where the wind blows. If kite is a poetry, a bunch of kids flying and enjoying kites is nothing less than an epic. That’s when you realize how futile our words are and how intense and joyful our feelings are.

We wanted to carve a smile on those lovely and innocent faces. We became friends instantly. We learned how to fly kite on the go. We would have torn like 4 kites because they were so reluctant to take a leap in the air and fly. I imagine what those torn kites must have felt. I hope those torn kites will forgive us. It was certainly a fault from our side.

Written By      : Sudip Bhandari

Photo Credits : Praveen, Omita, jagadish, Geet, Vineet

Organized By  : Amol, Veera & Ankit
Date of event  : 15th January, 2017

Place               : J P Nagar
Members         : 44

Pictures          : BTC FB Page