Rain leaves kite fliers disappointed

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 13

Rain that lashed the region on Monday left many kite fliers disappointed as kite-flying events, which are part of the Lohri celebrations, could not take place in the city.

Even stalls put up by shopkeepers to sell groundnuts, ‘gachak’ and other special snacks failed to do a good business as people preferred to stay in their homes throughout the day due to drizzling.

Kewal Kumar, a kite seller, said, “On Lohri, we expect a busy day due to high demand for kites and threads. But on Monday, we could not even open our shops. I will try to sell my stock when the weather improves in the coming days.”

Usually on Lohri, groups of kite-flying enthusiasts are seen on the rooftops with plying loud music. On Monday, youngsters and chidlren could not celebrate the festival in its true manner.

Police personnel in the city had a relaxed day. “On every Lohri, a police station receives five to six complaints of brawls. Policemen remain busy dealing with them and find it tough to go home on time. On Monday, youngsters preferred to stay indoors,” said a police official.

Fewer vehicles were seen plying on city roads on the occasion.

Several institutions in the city had to cancel their events on Monday due to rain. Many residents celebrated the festival in the evening for some time when rain stopped for a few hours.

The Art gallery and Virsa Vihar celebrated Lohri a day before owing to rain forecast. “We celebrated the festival on Sunday with traditional bonfire and folk songs. We distributed savouries and remembered great artistes,” said Kewal Dhaliwal, president, Virsa Vihar Society.

The administration had organised a kite-flying event at the Ranjit Avenue grounds last year on Lohri. “This year, we had organised advanced celebrations at BBKDAV College owing to weather forecast,” said the spokesperson for the district administration.

“We were waiting for the rain to stop for a few hours so that the children could fly kites. But except this, we enjoyed the festival singing songs and spending quality time with family members,” said Sanjeev Sharma, a businessman.

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