In January, the Delhi Tourism organized the “3rd International Kite Festival” at Golden Jubilee Park near Old Yamuna Bridge.
I had no clue about the festival but I randomly met a gentleman on one of my ‘heritage walks’ in late January with Delhi by Foot. After finishing the walk, I along with the gentleman with a mixed feeling excitement and delight proceeded to the Golden Jubilee Park to witness the Kite extravaganza.
Kites or “Patang” has always been an essential part of Indian culture and many festivals across India are celebrated with kite flying. Kites represent a gesture of freedom and enjoyment among the masses.
Our own “Dilli” itself has a great tradition for kites flying and the skies are conquered by the vivid colours of kites in different shapes and sizes during Independence Day, Republic Day, Makar Sankrant, Rakshabandhan and many other festive occasions. The Delhites indulge in several kite flying competitions organized locally to showcase their great affection and passion for the sport.
The three day kite festival (24-26th January 2014) is a progressive initiative taken by the Delhi Tourism to encourage the sport among the new techie generation which rarely sees a world beyond Playstations, XBOX, facebook, twitter etc. The festival witnessed professional kite flyers from various corners of the country and some international ones also from countries such as Indonesia, USA, UK etc.
I reached the venue at around 1 PM in the afternoon and by then the beautiful kites had already taken over the airspace with their vibrant forms and colours. I looked up and could spot Superman, dragon, whale, bird, ring and numerous other forms of kites soaring high in the clouds. Apart from these, a trail of around 180 kites disappearing endlessly in the clouds was among the most captivating attraction of the festival.
I saw some small kids and some bigger ones too, requesting the participant to allow them to fly the trail and participant also kept their heart by handing them the controls for few seconds. The sight of kids to trying to take the controls with their small cute hands was truly pleasing and I think it also somewhat achieved the purpose of organizing such event.
Of all the kites, there was one which really stole my heart with its elegance- it hailed from the lands of the popular dance form Katakali. It was in the form of costumes used by the Katakali dancers during their performances and it performed with the same grace during its flight too.
Besides the spectacular kites flying performances, the organizers also displayed an exhibition reiterating certain amazing facts with gorgeous snapshots pertaining to Kites and similar from across the globe. The organizers have had certain other events such as cultural events, magic show, puppets show, bioscope, painting competition and street food stalls to keep the spectators glued to the venue throughout the event.
I and the gentleman both had a great visual delight and also stuffed our bellies with some delicious street food viands. I would thank the gentleman for making me part of such a delightful event and seriously hope to part of similar ones in future.
Note: All the pictures in this post were taken by the Gentleman (Mr. Sumeet Aggarwal)
Kaushal Mathpal is an Advocate practicing in Delhi Courts in India but also has a flair for travelling. When he’s not in a courtroom, he enjoys exploring various parts of India and the surrounding region. He also writes on his blog http://rediscoveryourdreams.wordpress.com/ and you can follow him on Twitter @KaushalMathpal.
