Reminiscence of Basant in Lahore
RAMESH SETH
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At the crack of dawn, people are lined up on their terraces flying kites.
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PHOTO: AFP
KITE FLYING: Passionate pastime.
Kite flying began in China and spread all over the world, including India. In Lahore it begins with Lohri and ends on Basant, in late February. Last year, the Government of Pakistan banned kite flying.leading to protests.
Unforgettable
With Lohri as the harbinger of the kite-flying season I am reminded of my only visit to Lahore on the occasion of Basant festival in 1947. My brother and I spent a few days in Lahore. We stayed in the old town, in one of the narrow by-lanes of Suttar Mandi area. It was a three-storey house. At this time, the days are still cold. The sun rises well after 7.30 a.m. However, on the Basant day people shouted "Ai-Bo" and "Bo-kataeven as early as five a.m. As the sun rose, the crowds swelled. The entire town was overtaken by happiness and laughter.
In that mad medley of kites no one knows which kite had got crossed with which other.
As soon as someone found his kite pulling weight he assumed it had a cross connection and he would let loose the dor, the manjha.
Finally, as the sun reached the western horizon, reluctantly people began leaving .
There after came the partition and Lahore became part of another country. I have not been able to visit it again.
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