Count-down is about to end for the festival of Lohri and city people are gearing up for the celebrations. To celebrate Lohri in a special way,some have deck up their houses with Lohri-based themes while others are busy flying kites. The festival has indeed given jobs to many road-side kite and string sellers. Today,the day was special for many as being Sunday before Lohri,children and youngsters remained busy on the roof-tops,parks and even in narrow streets just to have the fun of kite flying. The bright sunshine with favourable wind helped these kite lovers to fly their kites high in the sky. And whenever any of these succeeded in cutting the string of a competitors kite,the resounding cries of Bo kata and Chak bo made everyone feel the enthusiasm of the festival. Majority of city schools and colleges have not declared holiday on Lohri day. But,it is just impossible for the kite lovers to study and that too on the occasion of Lohri. Some children have opted to take leave from their respective schools. We will take leave tomorrow to fly kites. Thank God,there are no monthly tests these days, said Manik and Loveleen Kumar. Some have decided not to take tuitions tomorrow. Rajan and Akash,both senior students,said,We wont miss classes at school but we convinced our tuition teacher not to teach tomorrow. We will go to the big park near our home for flying kites. On the other hand,many people are celebrating festival in a special way because of the grandsons birth and wedding of their son this year. Sanjeev Kumar,father of a newly-born son,said,We have arranged a party at our house. The whole pandal will be decked up with colourful kites and colourful dupattas. It was observed that at many places people celebrated the festival in advance and installed huge pandal on the roadside. Groups of dholis could be seen in many residential areas as well as in markets who were visiting door-to-door and were asking for the lohri greetings. Children were also seen running around on the roads in search of dropped kites and strings unmindful of free-flowing traffic on the rods. Chandi Lala,a string-seller on Ferozepur road,said,I have been selling strings for about 10 days. Although it is cold these days but to make both ends meet,I had to sit here. Many other kite,string and Lohri special eatables sellers are also awfully busy. Some businessmen have installed temporary stalls near famous places like Daresi ground,Rose garden,parks etc with a hope to earn more.
