An Old Town Fairytale

Photo: Darshan Chakma

If one winter morning in the city, you suddenly look up at the sky and see it dotted with tiny colours, then there's a good chance that you have landed yourself in Old Dhaka during the festival of 'Shakhrain'. Shakhrain, also known as the 'kite festival', dates back to the Mughal era, when the Nawabs held kite-flying competitions. It also coincides with 'Poush Shankranti', the last day of the Bengali month Poush.
During January, Puran (old) Dhaka sees the enthusiastic youth and even the old prepare for competition. Days ahead of the fest, the shops of old town are piled with kites that come in a wide range of colours, designs and sizes. People throng the stores to find the perfect kite. Of course, they don't walk away with just one, the kite competition requires them to purchase around 8-10 kites. So in mid-January, a vibrant traffic of fluttering kites envelops the sky. Kids and teenagers run around the terraces of the buildings, trying to control them.
Though hosted in the narrow alleyways of the old town in Dhaka, Shakhrain does not stay limited to only the residents. People from all corners of the city make their way towards Puran Dhaka to participate in the festival.
Shakhari Bazaar is one of the oldest existing communities of Dhaka, and it becomes the liveliest during Shakhrain. The narrow corridors of the street lead their way up to the roofs of tall labyrinthine buildings, ready to cater to the crowds, which inevitably show. And crowds there were during the early noon of January 14th! Crowds of children, seasoned kite flyers and photographers all gathered at the highest and most convenient rooftops they could find to watch the show of colours in the sky.

Photo: Darshan Chakma

And this is one of the most noticeable aspects of Shakhrain; although the festivities are very Puran Dhaka centric, people from other neighbourhoods do come around to celebrate. The good people of Puran Dhaka with perfect hospitality welcome these strangers on their roofs to experience the day just as they do.
Almost every roof on January 14th was bustling with people of all ages. Even the ones too young to fly a kite did not get left out, for the kids had balloons to fly. Just as there were kites in the sky, there were colourful balloons floating along side. No one dared to cut the strings of balloons though, as no one wanted to see a child cry (mostly because there was enough noise around, already).
There were loud speakers and even DJs on a few roofs. When separate songs played on disconnected rooftops, the collusion of music created a new tune. Though the different music sometimes did not go well together at all, the distortion felt more like a perquisite of the festivity than a downside.
As the evening drew closer, the residents began to set off lanterns ('fanush') into the sky. The day had gotten much colder and windier, and most of the lanterns flew high. And that was just the beginning of what was to come later in the night. The lanterns made way for crackers exploding on different rooftops, loud enough to shake the whole neighbourhood.
As the evening finally set in, it was welcomed with an explosion of lights in the sky in the form of fireworks. There were even smoke machines on roofs and the lighting formed different shapes in the smoke.
Then started the lights show -- there were sparklers all around, some large like waterfalls. Fireworks exploded in the sky and the residue fell like gleaming dust. Fire breathers walked out with torches and bottles of kerosene, to breathe fire into the festival. This year, fire spinners also took to the roofs.

Photo: Darshan Chakma

The dull, grey sky might have seemed uninviting, but it did not impede the kites from soaring high on the second day of Shakhrain. From early morning, people stood on the roofs of the closely-knit buildings of Puran Dhaka to start the aerial combat. Here, the kite competition is taken very seriously indeed. After lifting their kites onto the intimidating skyline, the competitors grab the 'latai' (the kite equivalent of a joystick). The latai is the spindle that holds the thread, and it is used to control the weapon in flight. Competition runs wild as one kite cuts the string off another. Smiles disappear from a child's face as his kite falls, but soon it reappears when he is handed another bright kite. To the teenagers or the elders, however, it is a state of war. The contender who beheads the highest number of kites is considered the winner of the particular area.
One might not be aware that there is also a tradition of catching the fallen kites. As the kite competition continues in the bone-chilling weather, kids wrapped in woolen sweaters wait for kites to drop off the sky. It is a priceless moment indeed when you witness a child scream out of utter joy after rescuing a beaten kite. It is his moment of victory.
When the evening drops by, more spectators gather on the roof tops. Loud music cranks up in the neighbourhood. Uncles are seen dancing crazily to popular Hindi tracks. A festive mood sets in as people in different rooftops start moving to the groove. Fire-eaters enter the scene. They prepare for the ultimate show. They adeptly spit the kerosene out of the mouth and leave the audience in awe as they create a tremendous circle of fire. For the viewers, it's a nail-biting experience to witness our deshi version of dragons. Children clap as potka, atoshbaji, and different types of fire-crackers are displayed in the open. Colourful fanush are released, adding to the spectacular view. As the celebration draws to a close at night, everyone looks forward to the next year to experience the same thrill.
Shakhrain is a part of the magical culture that grows and thrives within the old town. With all the colours and lights, the festival really does feel like something right out of a fairytale.