Celebs Uttarayan plans!

Celebs share their Uttarayan plans with TOI
Parthiv Patel I am so engrossed in flying kites during Uttarayan that I hardly notice anything else around! I prefer celebrating it at the old city area in Ahmedabad, where I have spent 17 years of my life. I don’t see any major changes. Only, one gets to hear a lot of variety these days as far as music is concerned. People now listen to FM stations on their terraces!
Pooja Gor This is the fifth consecutive year when I am not going to be in Ahmedabad.I miss the time I spent in the city with my friends on the terrace — we used to fly kites and gorge on fafda, jalebi undhiyu for lunch and sugarcane and chikki for the whole day. As far as celebrating the festival in Mumbai is concerned, with so many high rise buildings it is difficult to even fly kites here!
Bhavin Trivedi I celebrate the festival by being on the terrace as it is customary, but I don’t fly kites as I love birds. I also enjoy eating Gujarati delicacies. I end the day by sending lanterns on hot air balloons in the dark. That looks good and also makes people think it is a kite with a lantern and they try to cut it!
Ashish Parikh Uttarayan is going be with friends and family with lots of food continuously pouring on the terrace. Over the years, venues have changed and people around have changed, but the excitement to celebrate this festival on the rooftops and the skies still remains the same. The colors we see in the sky throughout the day gives us loads of inspiration. It still remains one of the most colourful days of the year.
Devang Patel For me, over the years, many things have changed except the festive spirit. Earlier, people used to relish home-made undhiyu and jalebis. Now, since families are nuclear fast-food like pizza and burgers are in demand. We used to play garba earlier in the evenings of Uttarayan; now DJ parties have replaced them. But, I enjoy being with my family friends and create new memories.
Manav Gohil It’s difficult for me to say whether there have been any changes in the way it is celebrated, as I have been in Mumbai during Uttarayan for the last few years. I badly miss that sense of belonging which being in Vadodara gives during Uttarayan. Memories like the entire community coming together to fly kites and sharing food are priceless.
Shrenu Parikh For me, the festival has always remained the same. However, I have seen people getting innovative in certain aspects like music. Many now have DJs as part of the celebrations! Also, it’s no longer a mere festival — it has become a nice platform for those much-needed social gatherings.
Ajitesh Argal I feel the celebrations are only getting bigger and better with every passing year, which is great. And I am very happy to see people becoming more aware when it comes to safety of birds.
Shatrunjay Gaekwad I just love gorging on til ladoos and fafda jalebis, which are now synonymous with this festival! The only change that I find is that people are now more careful, specially not hurting the birds.
Bhoomi Trivedi Youngsters today are a stressed out lot and hardly get time to meet up with friends and relatives. And that’s why the craze is on an upswing about Uttarayan and even Vasi Uttarayan, which allows them to forget all worries and enjoy it to the fullest. Having stayed in Mumbai for the last two years, this festival now means even more to me as I can understand that sense of belonging with Gujarati culture even better. At my aunt’s place in Ahmedabad, we dance away to garba tunes after we are done with kite-flying!
Tanvi Vyas While I don’t find any changes, things have changed for me personally. I really miss it if I am not in Vadodara, which is mostly the case these days. I fondly remember being on the terrace the entire day and night. This was one day that I enjoyed to the fullest with my childhood friends, without any worries!
Mini Singh It’s my favourite festival, and I feel it has only grown bigger. Now, it’s as big elsewhere as in the walled city, which is a very positive change. And it’s heartening to see more and more young people discarding the glass-coated manja.
JD Majethia I find people playing music on their terraces now, which wasn’t the case earlier. All the cheers of ‘kaipo che’, ‘lapet’ were so clearly audible earlier, which was the true festive spirit. I miss home-made Uttarayan goodies like chikkis, undhiyu etc, since we don’t get much time to make it here. People are more concerned now for birds and avoid flying kites to protect them.
(As told to Amrita Mulchandani, Shruti Jambhekar and Soumitra Das)