Sairat, NaMo fly high this Makar Sankranti

The shouts of ‘’, when somebody loses his in a kite fight, are apparent in Nashik. Mothers have realised that their children spend less time at home and more time on terrace. Yes, the official kite flying season is here. After a lull of two-months, Makar Sankranti is the first festival which helping people to recover from the after effects of demonetisation.The kite and manja vendors are happy about it. “Compared to last year, our business is little , but fortunately, it’s not like we are suffering huge losses. People are coming to us and buying kites, manja and chakris. Most of our customers are youngsters and they are keen to have a good kite flying fight with their neighbors,” says Pravin Ughade, a kite vendor in Shankar Nagar area.

This year the market is flooded with kites flaunting cartoon characters, love messages and action heroes. “Cartoon kites are primarily meant for children. Youngsters are seeking love message kites because they find it appealing. Besides, if your crush lives in a nearby building, flying the love message kite into her area is the best way to tell her how you feel. And since you are flying a kite, you will be at a safe distance if things go sideways,” smiles Chirag Parmar, a fine arts student.
Sairat still has loyal fan following as people prefer to buy kites depicting the famous due of Archi-Parshya. Modi’s notebandi is also not lagging behind in gaining popularity and flying high. “The cost of one kite starts from Rs 10 and goes upto Rs 250. Quality and size of the kites decide the price. Whereas price of manja chakri starts from Rs 100 and goes till 1000,” Ughade further informs.
In the political heat that has gripped the city post election announcement; the kites are flying with a political purpose. Kites bearing faces of senior leaders of political parties or colours of flags of political parties can be abundantly seen in market and in city skyline. In fact, many of such parties have also distributed kites of their own among the youngsters. “It’s a publicity technique of course. More your party is visible, more you tend to get votes,” says Purva Salunkhe, an IT professional.