Shiraz Bashir
Basant – the kite flying festival of spring – was supposed to be celebrated last weekend in Lahore but, at least officially, it was postponed because of the tragic Lahore bombings. But Basant season is obviously here. For good and for bad.
Basant is a festival celebrating arrival of a spring season. People dress up in colorful clothes and fly Patang or gudday (Kites) of various shapes and sizes using a thoughtfully selected and prepared dor(Kite String). Some people fly kites just for fun. Others fly in serious competitions among various families, mohalas and emotions can run high.
Basant always brings childhood memories from Rawalpindi.
We use to prepare for festival by “dor sotna†(preparation of kite flying string). It starts from selecting the string first. Strings come in many varieties like number 5, 2, 12 Reech (bear), Camel brand, Air blade, 5 panda etc.
Art of “dor sotna†involves many secret ingredients like special glue, string, glass, “sareshâ€, color and many other secret stuff. Then “dor†is put on a “charakrheeâ€. After that we use to go and purchase kites of various types like gudday, Patang, Lakhnow Kut, Pari in various sizes and colors. gudday come in sizes like 2.5 Tawa, 3 Tawa, 6 Tawa whereas Patang sizes are known as Har Githhi, Panch Gitthi, 6 Githhi, 8 Githhi etc. Then dor is attached to kite using a process known as “Kanee Dalnaâ€. It is an art itself.
On Basant day, we wear colorful clothes and climb to roofs and have Patang Bazee. Shouts of “Bo Kataâ€, “Aur Dheel Dayâ€, “Nazar a Raha Hay Gudaâ€, “Oyay Chor Maree Door koâ€, “Khich Mar Na Yarâ€, “Neechay Say Neechay Say Paycha Laga†were norm. Due to very sharp “dorâ€, index and other fingers get very deep cuts. But those cuts were badges of honors and were proudly shown to people next day.
Basant is a fun filled festival. But every year many deaths occur due to kite string cutting somebody throat, electrocuting someone due to vicinity to overhead electric wires or falling from roof tops. So a great caution must be exercised so as not to lose human lives.
Credits:
1. Salman, who is a dear friend of mine from Pakistan, enlightened me on types of Guday, Patang and Dor.
2. Photos by Rehan Fazal at flickr.com
ATP’s Post on Basant from 2007:
Celebrating Basant – Idiot Stlye
Rizwan,
Anger and hatred for kite flying depends on who you talk to.
Some people think it is a Hindu festival, so they call it unislamic. I personally hate it for other reasons. My uncle was an expert in kite flying; he used all the same terms mentioned by the author. One day during basant, while coming back from his friends house after a day of kite flying, he saw something that made him give it up. It seems a father and his son got hurt while riding on a motorcycle. The father got cut in the chest and neck, but the son got cut in the neck mostly. The motorcycle also crashed because the father lost control of the bike. From my uncle
“I have never understood why there is such anger against basant and kite flying
I think talk of baking bsant which some people say is silly. But I not fan of patang bazi . Wastes time and is dangerous
Zafar > Thank you for sharing that story. It was very interesting. I, however, respectfully disagree that your father did the right thing. It was unreasonably harsh and unnecessary and it all could have been resolved by a simple dialogue between you and your father.
But, it was a very interesting story :)
Rizwan > I agree. There is an unreasonable amount of hatred in some people for Basant.
It’s sad that something as innocent as kite flying has become a subject for such hatred and controversy. Such madness.