Telangana Kite and Sweet Festival

Lakhs of people hoarding Parade Grounds, navigating the terrible diversion and walking for a kilometre, for flying kites and tasting the delicacies should give you a hint that people still gorge on the manjas and the threads and festivities. I remember as a child, hopping on to the terrace and seeing the terrace filled with kites of various sizes, shapes and colours and gorging on the sweetmeats that mother and grandmother used to prepare. A stereo was set up in our apartments as we cut each other's kites and shouted on top of our voices to express our victory.

We'd ensure we take the winning kite home. Stories of children or young adults falling off from terraces would fill the pages of the newspaper, the next day. The Parade Grounds in Secunderabad brought back these memories with their fourth edition of Kites and Sweets Festival. The entire ground looked like an amalgamation of different terraces.

Light Kites, Fighter Kites, Lantern Kites adorned the skies and men, women and children gorged on sweets and snacks from the different stalls--each stall represented a different state. Punjab, Assam, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujrat were a few states whose sweets saw a huge crowd. Of course, there were chocolate-based pops and mini cakes to attract the crowds; however, the crowds were gravitated towards the chaat and the local flavoured items. The people who live in the city and have roots from other states would have thoroughly enjoyed this fare.

While we're complaining about how the festivities are not as pronounced as it was, a decade ago, one must also realise that such gatherings foster a sense of community and attending it is a delight.