In Photos: NRI Gujarati Captures the Kite Flying of his Childhood

A US-returned Gujarati photographer has captured some gorgeous images of kite flying in his hometown.

It is the time of year that kite flying Indians love the most.

Makar Sankranti is also when Uttarayan or the festival of kites in western India is celebrated. It holds great significance for the people of Gujarat, simply because most don’t leave their terraces for two straight days, so absorbed are they in flying kites!

Ask Nirav Patel, a California based photographer who left the city of Amdavad when he was just two years old – only to return to the city last year, to document the festival for nostalgia’s sake.

And the results are mesmerising.

While he was a toddler, his parents moved the family to America, leaving Nirav with his grandmother in Gujarat for a few years. When he asked his grandma to tell him something about that period in his childhood, she told him that he used to love Uttarayan.

Apparently, I would stay on the rooftop all day watching the kites. This made me think about going back and experiencing the festival once again, in hopes of nostalgia kicking in.

Nirav Patel, California-based photographer

Nirav lost his job as an engineer in 2009 – only to find his true calling in photography. He captured these images for VSCO Artist Initiative, a platform for creative individuals like him.

The word ‘Uttarayan’ means ‘north-movement’; the festival celebrates the sun’s northward movement and the transition of winter to spring.

Considered to be one of the largest festivals in Gujarat, one can see children gather early on the rooftops to fly their kites on January 14 and 15. Once the wind picks up, more and more people join in and soon the skies are filled with fighter kites. As kites are cut down in battle, the children in the streets chase them down.

“They will find a way to fly these fallen kites again or sell them to other flyers at a fraction of the price to earn money,” he explains.

Gujarat sees a massive production of kites and related accessories in the weeks preceding the festival. Many NRI Gujaratis like Nirav come to India, especially to celebrate Uttarayan.

“I think seeing life as a way of celebration and positivity really helps uplift people. This is why festivals like this one are so important – it seems to put emphasis on celebrating life and bring people together while putting differences aside,” he says.

While growing up, Nirav shared a strong relationship with his father – but like many other dads, his wasn’t very expressive.

He showed his love by working hard to make sure we had everything we needed, but he rarely hugged us or said ‘I love you’. But on the first night of Uttarayan, as we stood together on a rooftop, he put his arms around me and told me how much he loved me and that he was proud of me. It was in that moment that I realised how Uttarayan creates an energy of its own and how powerfully infectious it is.

Nirav Patel, California-based photographer

During his time in India last year, he was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the country. However, he soon learned the art of staying in one place long enough to have conversations with the locals and capture processes while they happened.

While taking photographs of every little thing that makes the festival as largely loved as it is, Nirav found a connection not just with his own roots, but also managed to shine a spotlight on what the festival means to the community.

His pictures are motifs of just that.

(Runa Mukherjee Parikh has written on women, culture, social issues, education and animals, with The Times of India, India Today and IBN Live. When not hounding for stories, she can be found petting dogs, watching sitcoms or travelling. A big believer in ‘animals come before humans’, she is currently struggling to make sense of her Bengali-Gujarati lifestyle in Ahmedabad.)