Pakistan: Sindh Festival: Basant celebrations electrify the Karachiites

The Seaview of Karachi woke up to a sunny weekend with normal winds as a large number of people turned up at the beach to fly kites.

The sky was dotted with scores of kites at Karachi beach, as Saturday and Sunday saw the Basant celebrations to mark the Sindh Festival with shouts of ‘boo-kata’. Sindh Festival is being celebrated from February 1-15 at multiple cities of the province to promote the Sindhi culture. The two-week festive season began with an opening ceremony at ruins of Mohenjodaro. For all participants, children and adults, the joy of flying kites mattered most with ultimate goal to keep their kites high up in the sky.

With string in their hands, people mostly from nearby areas, had geared up for kite-flying sessions to participate in ‘Basant Festival’ celebrations in a fun and frolic atmosphere.

Participants queued up before a makeshift stall, which was set up to provide coloured kites and threads free of cost. The dominant colours remained red and white with ‘Sindh Festival’ printed logos on them. However, many participants preferred to bring colourful objects of their own.

“I am flying the kite fore the first time ever in my life. It is a great experience,” said Hassan Abbas who had come there along with his peers.

“We have brought around 40 kites,” said Hassan. His friend Usman Shakil lauded the previous day’s musical concert. “Last night’s performances of Shazia Khushk and Komal Rizvi were superb,” said Usman who had come there on the second consecutive day. Another family, headed by Dr Ali, was roaming around. “It is good to see and witness such a colourful and sparkling event,” said Ali who had arrived here from Hill Park Society area. Shahroze Sabzwari, another participant, had a different tale to tell.

“Kite-flying is a rare sight in Karachi nowadays. I wish I could see more kite flying events in the coming days,” said Shahroze.

The entire area had been decked up with Sindh Festival wooden frames of kites. The two-day ‘Basant Mela’ was held in Karachi on Saturday and Sunday. The participants, especially children, had other reasons to celebrate too – camel and horse riding and the glorious mascots that left a lasting memory on kids’ minds. However, a number of families, who were least concerned with kite flying, were seen enjoying and having snacks while kids were seen playing games.

The two-day celebrations also witnessed the brilliant singing performances by Sukhbir Singh, Shazia Khushk, Humera Arshad, Ainee, Komal Rizvi and Hassan Jahangir.