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BASANT
- LAHORI STYLE!
If there is one thing
that Punjabis know how to do, that is to party, and boy did
they party during the annual Basant celebration in Lahore
on Sunday, February 15th.
For those of you who
haven’t heard of Basant, it is a festival born in the
Punjab to celebrate the arrival of the Spring.
Basant is the one day
of the year when the full spirit of the Punjab is on show
in all its’ glory and the biggest celebration happens
in the heart of Old Lahore. .
People travel from all
over the world to take part in the fantastic party atmosphere
which is Lahore’s answer to the Brazilian’s Mardi
Gras.
And like all the best
parties, everyone at asiancommunity.net made sure we were
in the middle of all the action.
The icing on the cake
was a huge sell out concert by rock superstars Junoon who
got in some good practise for their stint at the world famous
Glastonbury festival at which they will be performing later
on this year.
On top of almost everyone
house, there was a roof top party going on, as people dragged
their music systems and made barbecues.
For anyway who hasn’t
been to Old Lahore, the city resembles Victorian London with
narrow roads and the houses close together, so there is a
great party atmosphere and never ones to miss a n opportunity,
there is also plenty of inter roof flirting which goes on!!!
The one thing which
makes Basant the festival that it is, is the kite flying competitions
which take place.
As one kite flying fan,
Ali Khan said: “On Basant, there are more kites in the
sky than stars.”
But if you thought kites
are just for kids, then you are in for a surprise.
During the kite flying
competitions, kite flyers try to outwit their opponents to
see who can get their kites to fly the highest and the longest.
Hardcore kite flyers
often coat the string of their kites with ground glass so
they can slice through the kite strings of their opponents.
Children often gather around to collect the falling kites.
People will compete
to see who can play the loudest music, and make the biggest
hungama. In fact, it is the one day of the year when the adults
are worse than the kids!
Ultimately, Basant
is about keeping up with the Jones, Punjabi style!!!
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