Makar Sankranti for Sharad Kelkar has always been a sweet memory. His mother makes different varieties of mitha at home, from barfis to ladoos, and while the actor is usually careful about his diet, on this particular day, he is happy to indulge his sweet tooth. “I know the festival is traditionally associated with til (seasame) ladoos, but my favourite is my mom’s murmura (puffed rice) ladoos. Even while they are being shaped, I gobble up a few and get shouted at by my exasperated mother,” laughs the actor.
While he is travelling on Makar Sankranti, Sharad will be in Ahmedabad on January 13 and hopes the disappointment of missing out on the annual family celebration will be compensated by watching Gujarat’s famous kite festival. “I’ve heard so much about it from my director-friend Apoorva Lakhia and I know I will be looking up at the sky that day,” grins the actor.
Several cities across the state, including Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Dholavira, Shivrajpur, Ektanagar and Vadnagar, have their own kite-flying festivals during Uttarayan, as the festival is known in Gujarat, but Ahmedabad draws kite makers and kite fliers from across the world to the Sabarmati Riverfront. Between January 12 and 14, along with the desi varieties, the sky is filled with Malaysian wau kites, Chinese flying dragons, Japanese rokkaku fighting kites, American banner kites among many others.
Kites have always been an integral part of the revelry for Sharad. His father was a PWD engineer and when he was in the third or fourth standard, they stayed in the government quarters in Gwalior. “There was a row of 20 houses in our lane and our dads had kite flying competitions amongst themselves, with us kids clamouring around them, running home every now and then to nibble on a namkeen (savoury snack) or bite into a ladoo,” he shares, recalling the excitement of getting to choose from 15-20 kites, with him getting his own small patang (kite) and chakri (spool). “Back then, I used to hold the chakri for my dad, now my daughter Kesha holds it for me.”
The actor, who has come to be known as Maharaj after his convincing portrayal of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, believes it’s essential to familiarise the next generation with our rich cultural heritage, rituals and traditions. He has passed on the stories he had heard from his mother to Kesha and insists that like he had as a child, she too says, “Til gul ghya god god bola” for her share of treats. “The line translates simply as ‘Eat sesame and jaggery and speak sweet words.’ It is a lovely way of teaching youngsters to speak nicely and respectfully to their elders with the lalach (temptation) of sweets,” he chuckles.
Makar Sankranti is set by the solar calendar and marks the transition of the sun from Dhanu (Sagittarius) to Makar (Capricorn) rashi (Zodiac sign). Surya Dev or the Sun God is worshipped, along with Vishnu and Lakshmi. The mid-winter harvest festival usually falls on January 14—January 15 on a leap year—and is celebrated across the country under different names, from Magh Bihu in Assam, Magha Saaji in Himachal Pradesh, Poush Sankarti in Bengal and Sakraat in Central India to Makaravilakku in Kerala, Makar Sankranti in Maharashtra and Suggi Habba in Karnataka, Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Pedda Panduga in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
“Many films down South open on Sankranti, a few days prior or later. My Tamil sci-fi action-comedy, Ayalaan, released on January 12 in 2024. Even back home, it’s an auspicious day to start a new project or buy a car, jewellery or property,” Sharad points out.
He remembers that in an episode of Ekta Kapoor’s TV drama series, Bairi Piya, they celebrated Sankranti with a kite flight between two rival groups. “We shot the sequence in Mumbai and flew kites all day. It was so much fun,” says the actor.
The memory is a reminder that he won’t be around to fly kites with Kesha on a friend’s terrace this year. “But like always, we will have a puja at home and her grandmother will make lots of sweets. And she can fly kites with her Kailash mama (uncle) who is a champion and cuts all the patangs around,” he signs off fondly.
