Makar Sankranti

I spent yesterday evening bleeding on my friend's rooftop terrace.

Context: I was very excited when a friend invited me to celebrate Makar Sankranti, India's kite flying festival, with him and his friends, and I wrongfully thought this would entail a leisurely evening. A festival traditionally marking the start of a new harvest season for farmers and a shift in the winds, Makar Sankranti is celebrated all around the city, typically on the terraces of buildings. It is a stunning and very fun, albeit rather competitive, festival.

When I read about the festival in the papers, prior to its date, I was confused to read of professional kite fliers, and competitions. Now, I know it has been about 15 years since I last flew a kite, but I remember it as an independent activity, consisting of me jerking around a plastic Batman kite, and finally, although briefly, getting it to actually fly, and then breaking it and going home frustrated.
Here, there are rules, preparations, and hours and hours of kite flying. The kites are made of paper, and many buy hundreds of them, each, for the festival. The kites come in packs of about 20, and the cheaper ones do not have ties on them, from which to attach the manga, or the kite string. So, to save a few bucks, many people buy these cheaper kites then stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning the night before the festival fixing the ties to them. This is not just kite flying, but a competition, your aim is to cut the manga of other kites with your kite. When you are successful in bringing down an opponent's kite you yell, "LAPET," which means I cut your kite. It is an unspoken understanding that the residents of your building, and whom you are sharing the terrace with, are your team, and you are only to cut down the kites of opposite buildings.

The manga is fairly sharp. In tugging at it to guide the kite upwards, or even simply in trying to get it off the ground, I slashed my fingers open and decided to retire from my short-lived kite flying career. Only later did I realize that so many of my team mates were wearing tape on their fingers to prevent getting cuts. On the brightside, my injuries meant sitting out for a little while and observing:

Yesterday marked being in India for one month. I love it here.