The Tale of a Lohri Warrior

It's 5 a.m...It's freezing out there...The Fog has settled over the entire city...A time when majoirty of the nation is sleeping in their Cozy blankets there is some activity going around in a land in northern part of India : Punjab.

There are soothing gurbanis at the terrace of one of your neighbors  The kids are talking aloud. It's time when voice of that little sardarji  "Beere thallon Speaker de naal yo yo honey singh di Cd Chak Layain aaj taan Nazare aaunge" [ Translation : Brother please bring the Yo Yo Honey Singh CD along with you ..Today is going to be a great fun !! ] prompts you to wake up and see what the hell is happening ..has morning arrived or i am still dreaming about the day.

 After much similar convincing you wake up to a day you have been waiting the entire winters : yes it's 13th jan ;Lohri : The Punjab's Agricultural Winter festival .The first thing you do in the morning is look up for those kites for which you been tying the knots till late in the night and then wake up your siblings...parents...The chilling temperatures loose their relevance .

Packed from head to toe with your weapons ( Kites & Manjha in Hands ) you as a warrior heads towards the battlefield : The terrace of your House. Your mom in a caring tone cautions you "Thand hai  thodi der ruk ja...topi paa ke rakhi"  completely knowing that you are too excited to not pay heed to those warnings.

As you reach the terrace you witness the Blackish Blue Sky with some people doing trials with their kites to know the wind direction , the moisture in the air , the air speed. What follows is an of excitement setting up your music systems..wishing all your neighbours a happy lohri....making strategies , teams with your friends and siblings for cutting the opponents thread.Setting up the terrace for a daylong Odyssey.

 It's a matter of time when the very first rays of sun falls on this part of the earth and you are up into action The Yo Yo Honey Singh ...Diljit singh...and countless  Punjabi songs take over those soothing bhajans and gurbannis and within seconds the otherwise plain winter morning sky is filled with colorful kites..

Here comes your first achievement and very proudly you announce "Aiie Bo!!Manu da gudda bo". The Fun continues through the day with you winning some of the fights and loosing some.

At other corners of the terraces you find elderly getting nostalgic about their days of lohri with kites costing one tenth that time of they do these days...how they use to prepare their manjha ( flying thread ) themselves at home and the chinese plastic threads taking over the markets and spoiling the fun the cotton thread provides.

At noon the dholak guys also arrives at the terrace and its time for bhangra guys. along with awesome lohri Lunch feast ...with that reodis...gachaks popcorns as the starters....and makki di roti te sarso sa saag ...to make you energised for the second innings of the kite mania.

As the sunshine withers and the sun begin to set in you see people getting all more focused and concentrated to make the most of the remaining times with kites flying meters and meters in the sky. Yes evening is the time to witness some of the highest battles of the day. Its again a matter of time before the sky turns dark and you decide to call it a day.

You come down..to find yourself engaged  with yet another preparations for the day

Yes The lohri don't ends here but begins in a yet another famous avtaar : "The Lohri Bonfire "

The bonfire is lightened and the elder begin by praying for the peace and prosperity for the coming year . As a part of the faith everyone offers Mungfalis , gachak, reodis, popcorns to the fire and the gala begins.

You begin  discussing with your  friends as to how many kites they cut in the day..Some showing the cuts on their hands caused by the manjha (thread) as a memento of their achivements.

People are dancing on to the tunes of dholak.. Guys are singing : "Sundarmundriye hoye"  and girls fully supporting them with " gugga jamya si" asking for lohri  from the elders.

Exhausted after a day filled with activities and with memories to stay forever you look for your bed to wake up the next day to another year waiting ahead for you

Image courtsey: http://www.sendscraps.com/mobile/img-7677.html