Makar Sankranti is an auspicious festival for the Hindus, and is celebrated across the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervor and gaiety.

Predominantly a harvest festival, it is perhaps the only Indian festival whose date always falls on the same day (January 14th) every year. Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti is transition. It occurs when the sun begins its entrace into the northern hemisphere.

An integral part of this festival is kite flying or patang baazi: a fragile piece of paper, two pieces of bamboo, and a length of string would be enough to soar the spirits of one and all, crossing all boundaries of age, religion, caste or region.

The preparations for the festival start months in advance, when people make kites in their households and prepare the string, called manjha. Every family has its own secret recipe for the best manjha, which comes in various colours: very often it is made with simple string covered with a mixture of finely powdered glass, rice paste, glue and colour. Other ingredients like wax may be added to give it a slick finish and also make it difficult to cut. Once prepared, the manjha is rolled onto a spool.

The kites come in many colours and designs with interesting names: gola (circle on the top), langot (triangle at the tail), do langot (split triangle at the tail), chandtara (moon and star), doppaan (two leaves on either side of the centre) and alibaan (three patches of different colours at an angle) to name a few.

People get on to terraces or rooftops to fly these fighter kites. There is so much drama as people gather in large groups and high-pitched war-cries of “kate” (cut!) are heard whenever a kite is cut. These cries are very often followed by groups of children running frantically to claim possession of the fallen kites.