Happy Sankranthi!

Today was the holiday "Sankranthi" - and because we're in India, we celebrated with my in-laws. This is the holiday of flying kites. We went up to the terrace on top of Narasimha's family's house, which didn't end up being tall enough to get any wind. So then we went up onto the roof of an apartment building across the street. Basically, everyone has these kites made out of like tissue paper, and then you tie them to this special string that has crushed glass glued to it. And the point is, all these people are flying their kites at the same time, and you try to "cut" the kites of others. You make your string run into their string hard enough to literally cut it (with the glass) and then they lose their kite. There's probably some skill involved in actually getting your kite into the air and making it stay there, but beyond that, you are pretty much at the mercy of the wind and whatever way it decides to blow. We had 2 kite fatalities and then had to come in for dinner :) Narasimha kept telling his mom "Just 5 more minutes." I'm sure she's heard that before, as have I :) I am sure the holiday has some sort of Hindu ties, but I don't know what it is...kind of like Christmas (sadly) is in America, the religion behind it wasn't necessary to fly the kite. My mother-in-law also gave me a beautiful bright blue/turquoise saree made out of a special silk as a gift for the holiday. I will try to wear it here before I return to the States.