Uttrayan -Kite Flying
Here are some of the lessons I learned from flying kites:[@Six lessons]:
1].Flying a kite is just like life. Many people think their life would be so much better if they didn't have any struggles, but quite the opposite is true. Without the struggles and the challenges in life we have nothing to overcome, nothing that allows us to become stronger and to soar higher. So stop right now and think about your struggles. Figure out how you can use these struggles to SOAR HIGHER. Use the tension of them to fly higher and overcome and achieve bigger and better things.
[2]. It’s all in the balance. No matter how potentially good the kite is if I fail to balance the string or the line, it won’t fly well. Life is all about balance. If we ignore our other needs or the people around us and focus only on the demand of the day, we will eventually go crashing down and hit the ground.
[3]. flying a kite is more fun and you show your gratitude by sharing the kite. There’s hardly anything in this life that we can accomplish without help from others. Recognize them and share the fruit of your success with them.
[4]. It’s all about choices. We choose our kite, we choose our string, we choose the timing for flying it, we choose who to fly it with. The quality of the experience depends on the quality of our choices. It is true with kite flying as it is with living.
[5]. You don’t just throw away a kite that won’t fly well. You try to do something about it by adjusting the balance of the string. Maybe a tail can help or additional weight on the left or on the side depending on the kite’s behavior on air. You dont’ throw away a life just because things are not going well. You figure out how to make it better and actually do something.
[6]. If I lose a kite, it’s good to know that I can use what I learned from the experience to how to fly a kite better. Nothing is really totally lost or wasted. Even when we lose something or fail at something in our lives there is always something to be gained – the lesson on how to become better.
Tithi (Date):This festival, unlike other Hindu festivals, is not dependent on the position of the moon, but on position of the sun. On this day, the sun enters the zodiac sign of Capricorn[Makar].
Importance from the point of view of spiritual practice: On this day, from sunrise to sunset, the environment has more chaitanya (Divine conscious-ness); hence those doing spiritual practice can benefit from this chaitanya.From the south the sun shifts northwards. Daylight hours increase from this day. However only the sun's sankranti into Makar is considered auspicious and meritorious. During this time-span, the cow, edible food, money, vehicles, clothes, flowers or grass are donated to Brahmins, the poor and ascetics; resulting in infinite punya(merits).
History: Sankranti is considered a goddess. According to a legend Sankranti killed a demon named Sankarasur.The day followed by Makar sankrant is called Kinkrant or Karidin. On this day, the female deity (devi) splayed the demon Kinkarasur.
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