{"id":1929,"date":"2016-03-22T15:32:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T10:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/makar-sankranti-gujarati-kite-festival\/"},"modified":"2016-03-22T15:32:29","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T10:02:29","slug":"makar-sankranti-gujarati-kite-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=1929","title":{"rendered":"Makar Sankranti: Gujarati Mardi Gras Minus the Swag"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

M<\/span><\/p>y father is a self-proclaimed \u201cactive person\u201d who loves playing <\/span>\u201cgames\u201d<\/span><\/a> and \u201csport\u201d, which, for him, include (illegally) plucking cherries from the neighbour\u2019s farm, jumping over gutters, playing with bottle caps, throwing kids into the river so they figure out how to swim, and playing with marbles in the dusty veranda. In his own words, it was a very \u201cdifferent time\u201d back then. Of course, this was the \u201960s and the only fitness apps they believed in back then, were glasses of milk and plates of fruits.<\/span>\n\nIn his lifetime, my father has witnessed the erosion and eventual extinction of things that were #lit during his childhood. And like many people of his generation, it has made him a wee bit bitter. This is evident when he occasionally bursts into rants about the \u201cmindless\u201d <\/span>video game<\/span><\/a> and mobile phone culture that has shaped my childhood. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nBut there\u2019s one day in the year that makes my father forget all the ranting, and gets his eyes lit up like Harry Potter\u2019s after he spots the Golden Snitch. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nYes, it\u2019s the day of <\/span>Makar Sankranti<\/span><\/a>, the Gujju equivalent of <\/span>Mardi Gras<\/span><\/a> minus the swag. Makar Sankranti aka Uttarayan is as important for us Gujjus as undhiyu, dandiya, stock markets, and Narendra Modi. We simply can\u2019t stop fangirling over these things (sorry, Rahul baba). This is also the day my otherwise mellow father brings out his competitive best — and his arch nemesis is Bunty ke papa, Apollo Creed to my father\u2019s Rocky Balboa. <\/span>\n\nBut before the competition is <\/span>family bonding<\/span><\/a>. There\u2019s an age-old Gujarat adage that goes, \u201cA family that flies kites together, stays together.\u201d So we all get together and scream, \u201cKai po che\u201d like our life depends on it while we pass around til chikki as if they were weed cookies and down Rooh Afza like tequila shots. <\/span>\n\nMy dad is nervously excited ahead of Sankranti. He is the only guy I know who looks forward to January, the most depressing month of the year. It\u2019s like my father has two personalities, one reserved for the rest of the year and one for January, when he goes from Bruce Wayne to full-on Batman, patang and phirki in tow. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nDad, who avoids shopping like Rahul Gandhi avoids election season, the man who won\u2019t go to the market to buy bread, gets his hands on the finest-quality manja, sourced from the markets of Surat. The manja is made by men with razor-sharp wit and it is so fine that it could cut your soul. It will certainly shred Bunty ke papa\u2019s kite. <\/span>\n

Makar Sankranti aka Uttarayan is as important for us Gujjus as undhiyu, dandiya, stock markets, and Narendra Modi.<\/blockquote>\nOnce the kites and manja are in possession, dad decides to delegate. While he\u2019s planning his moves for the D-day, my cousin and I tie the kannies (knots) to the kites, the job of sidekicks, not the superhero. He doesn\u2019t want to waste precious time doing manual labour while the opponents are ripping out one <\/span>kite<\/span><\/a> after another during the practice games. But dad\u2019s a pro, net practice is for noobs. <\/span>\n\nOn the day of Sankranti, he\u2019s up early, dressed to the nines in his superhero suit of starched white kurta-pyjama. He\u2019s pacing around the house, restless, waiting for us lazy folks to get out of bed. \u201cYou young people should go up on the terrace and have fun, these are your days to enjoy,\u201d he tells us. What he doesn\u2019t tell us though, is that he is jonesing for a round with Bunty ke papa, who is also probably pacing around his living room. <\/span>\n\nAs he makes his way to the arena, the building terrace, expert commentary is first delivered on the wind conditions and what it\u2019ll be like throughout the day. (The met department better take note, this is where the real weather expert\u2019s at.) After an in-depth analysis, it\u2019s time to get down to business: One kid holds the phirki, the other one helps with the kite getting elevation. <\/span>\n\nIt is in these moments, when I see my father at his childlike best. Screaming \u201cKai po che\u201d with such fervour that it would put Sunny Deol in <\/span>Border<\/span><\/i><\/a> to shame. He sends up his kite and fights for it as aggressively as an investment banker trying to close a deal. The competition is serious AF, but I am most amused: I find my non-confrontational father\u2019s change in personality hilarious, especially if he is losing a kite fight. And nothing angers him more than losing to Bunty ke papa. <\/span>\n\nLast year, Dad didn\u2019t have a great run. This year, he\u2019s all geared up for the clash as the challenger. But no matter what happens today, my scoreboard will always read the same: Dad 1, Bunty ke Papa: 0<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My father has two personalities. One reserved for the rest of the year and one for Makar Sankranti, when he goes from Bruce Wayne to full-on Batman, patang and phirki in tow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":1930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3452],"tags":[3863,3864,3865,3866,3867,3868,3869,3870,3871,3872,3873],"class_list":["post-1929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-dheel","tag-gujarati","tag-gujju","tag-kite-festival","tag-kites","tag-lapet","tag-makar-sankranti","tag-manja","tag-patang","tag-phirki","tag-till-chikki"],"yoast_head":"\nMakar Sankranti: Gujarati Mardi Gras Minus the Swag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My father has two personalities. 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