Basant (Nadia)
Basant the festival of kites is celebrated each year to mark the coming of spring in South -East Asia. Spring in this part of the world, is when the first yellow mustard flowers appear in the fields of Punjab. It started off as small-scale celebration of harvesters at the beginning of spring, but today Basant is very different from what it originally was. Kite flying is now a sport and Basant an excuse for people to socialize, throw huge parties and spend large amounts of money on special kinds of threads and kites.Unlike in western countries, kite flying in Pakistan and India is like a war. You have to tangle the thread of your kite with that of another in the sky and cut it. This requires practice and skill and of course, the last kite to remain in the sky is the winner. People often have threads prepared months in advance with multiple coatings of powdered glass and colors.
This year on Basant I happened to be in Lahore again, the city most known for this celebration. One of my friends, Aliya invited me to a party her father had organized in the heart of old city of Lahore. The party was on the Basant eve at an old mansion that her father owned. It was and old haveli made some time in the twentieth century. Subtle yellow lights lighted up the entire façade. It was still early in the evening and not many guests had arrived.My friend took me up to the roof. It was three stories above the ground. In a corner kites of different sizes, shapes and colors were piled next to them was another pile of threads on large plastic spools. In a different corner were hired cooks setting up their grills for the night. Rows of powerful spotlights lined up against the edges of the roof facing up towards the sky and illuminated it. Loud music blared through the huge set of speakers strategically placed on the roof facing outwards. A microphone was attached to scream out “Aii! boo kata!”, the traditional victory chant.Aliya’s brother was already up there with his friends and some cousins, getting their kites ready; we greeted him and watched him tie his kite to the thread. It looked simple: make holes, pull doubled-thread through, tie knots and then tie a bigger knot in the middle to which the single end of the thread on the spool would be tied. The wind was favorable and there were many kites in the sky already. Since it was night people only white kites or of light colors, they spotted the bright night sky like little flecks of snow. All the rooftops in the area were crowded and not one roof was left dark.
Aliya and I decided to fly some kites too. I told her that I flew kites when I was little so I should remember how to do it. We asked one of her cousins to help us tie it up. After trying a couple of times I managed to get it up in the air. Moments later, I felt a little jerk in the string of my kite. From the other side of the roof Aliya’s cousin told us that my string had tangled with another kite’s. He constantly yelled out instructions to help me cut my rival’s kite. Sadly, the match did not last for more than a minute and I felt the string in my hand go limp. A huge scream of “Aii! boo kata!” came from the roof to the left. It was the pesky little kid who had cut my kite last year as well!The humiliation was unbearable so we decided to leave kite flying for a while and find some food. The cooks had prepared traditional spicy food and pieces of chicken and beef were being freshly barbequed on skewers. Everything smelled and tasted delicious! By then a lot of guests had arrived and after eating a bit and talking to come of the people I was acquainted with we decided to give kite flying another shot. This time we had an expert with us. One of our friends Sonia was an excellent kite flyer and it was time for revenge. We let Sonia pick the kite and thread and as soon as she had her kite in the air the little kid made an attack. We all cheered for our friend and watched her skillfully handle the kite. A few seconds later she managed to cut his kite. We made a hell of a noise at our first victory over him… it was also our last!I felt a little sleepy and looked at the time it was already two in the morning! The sky was still bright from the lights on the rooftops and little white specks still danced around. We flew three more kites, all of which were mercilessly cut by unknown rivals. Sad at the loss and very much excited by the activities around us we sat and watched other people on the roof fly their kites. Around 3 am people started to leave and the music was turned down. Aliya’s brother came to show us his hands covered in blood from the cuts made by the sharp thread. He had a lot of bandages on and a huge satisfied smile on his face. Aliya and I went down to get some sleep, I was staying over because the celebrations were to be continued the entire next day.
