Uttarayan - Annual Kite Festival in Ahmedabad

Holy Kites Batman! OK, maybe the one revered item in India that's not officially a religious icon although it seems close in stature. It is quite difficult to describe this festival which is celebrated in a HUGE way here. Don't get me wrong- it's very popular everywhere else in India but no more so than in Ahmedabad. It' s actually an official holiday...for kites. I mean, literally, nobody works for at least the 1st day of the festival and from what I heard, a lot of people get of 2 full days off for this!

Weeks leading up to this day, we saw giant spools of mostly neon pink kite string being dyed along side of the road then laid out in 15 ft. sections to dry. Every kid on the street had a kite or kite string in their hand or was watching a friend. You see, they need to practice. It's not about just having fun and flying a kite, oh no. It's a competitive sport and quite dangerous; actually deadly. The string we saw being dyed on the streets were actually being coated in a glass power meant to strengthen and sharpen the strings and thus be more likely to cut an opponents kite string. This causes 2 main problems...birds get cut down from the sky & motorcyclists can get sliced driving over bridges. Someone actually created special wire to attach to your bike so you don't get clothes-lined. Oh and there are more perilous effects; kids fall off of roof tops while flying or chasing a kite, they run in and out of traffic and sometimes get hit yet everybody loves this! We were invited to join a kite party at a high school in the old city. When I say say a kite party, I mean they had dance music pumping, more than a hundred people on the roof (most flying kites), and a enormous catered dinner. There are actually specific foods that are eaten for this event...and all of it was very tasty, of course.

When you're stand on the roof of the school, maybe 6 stories high, you realize that EVERYONE ELSE is on their roof-tops flying kites. As far as you can see, there are kites, kites and more kites. It was really a sight to see although I kept fearing for my exposed neck line. Being paranoid that I am, I didn't fly a kite but but instead opted to watch Bradd have a go and keep my eyes open.