Kite Day

I know it's been a super long time since my last post.  Sorry.  Until now, I haven't had much time to sit down and write.  Things have settled down some at work so I have a little bit more free time now. This post is from my experiences from almost a month ago.

On January 14th, the state of Gujarat has a holiday called Kite Day that originated in Baroda.  There is no religious significance to this day and I'm not really sure of the significance of it.  No one works, all the businesses are closed, and every gets up on their rooftops and flies kites.  That's pretty much the extent of it.  I went to the downtown area and stood atop one of the private hospitals.  By the way, I hope I never need to go to the hospital here because it wasn't a pretty sight in there.

Once I got up to the rooftop, I was amazed at the thousands of kites in the air as far as I could see.  There was hardly any wind that day and I developed a great appreciation for the thousands of people who were able to get their kites in the air.  I remembered back to when I used to fly kites as a kid, but that was always in an open field with plenty of wind.  I didn't realize how difficult it would be to fly a kite from a tiny rooftop (surrounded by 5 others trying to do the same thing) with no wind.  I tried for about an hour and then gave up, failing miserably.  The pictures don't really do it justice, but it was the best I could do.

Obviously, no room to get a running start to
get a kite in the air.  It wasn't unusual seeing
at least 15 people on a roof like this with no
railings or walls to keep from falling off.

Not sure if you can see all the kites but this was all around me.

The kite strings everyone used is actually coated in glass, so most people put tape on their fingers to avoid getting cut.  The reason for the glass-coated string is that people have "kite battles" by which they try to move their kite string into another's kite string and cut it.  Whenever this happens the winner usually gives out a yell similar to the yell those blue people in Avatar give when when they're riding the dragon-like things.  The kites are sold along the streets at makeshift shops and are bought in packages of about a dozen for around 2 dollars.   They are made of strong tissue paper and flimsy sticks, so it wouldn't be a big deal if someone cuts your string. I, on the other hand, would have been pissed if I spent an hour trying to get a kite in the air and then someone came along and cut my string.

Fireworks were plentiful in the distance and right above,
lit off from many of the rooftops.  The hot air balloons filled
the air as well.

Once the sun set, the sky became lit up with fireworks and mini hot air balloons let off from rooftops.  This, again, was like nothing I had ever seen before.  The firewoks for any 4th of July party were nothing compared to this.  Again, the pictures don't do it any justice, so you're just gonna have to trust me.

These are the mini hot air balloons.
A little wire basket holds a kerosene
soaked block under the balloon.

I arrived back in Baroda on January 8th and I'll be here until March 30th.  Today is Super Bowl Sunday which I won't be able to watch for the second year in a row (see previous posts).  I tried to go golfing today, but there was a tournament scheduled so I wasn't able to.  Hopefully, next week will work out.  I have been eating meat probably one meal a week which isn't enough.  I'm ready for a big, greasy bar cheeseburger.  I think I'll have to wait until I get home for that one :(.