Telly actors share their memories of Makar Sankranti and Lohri festivals

On the occasion of Makar Sankranti and Lohri, popular TV celebrities like Gurpreet Singh, Jasmin Bhasin, Priyamvada Kant and others share their memories of the festivals.

Here’s what the celebrities had to say:

Gurpreet Singh (Porus) – As I am a Punjabi and have been brought up in Delhi, I have always celebrated Makar Sankranti as Lohri. I wish every year for happiness and prosperity for my family and friends. I am always nostalgic about Lohri. In my childhood, I used to go to my relatives’ places for Lohri. I used to love gajjak and popcorn and I used to enjoy the famous Sundari Mundari folk song about dulha dhappi Wala around the bonfire. I used to put reverie and popcorn in the fire with others. I remember many kids used to come to my house to collect money for Lohri.

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Abraam Pandey (Khichadi Returns) – Makar Sankranti is full of family fun with your siblings as I still remember how I used to celebrate with them, and of course those kite flying rituals. We all used to bet on it but I stopped flying kites after a bird got hurt with my kite thread. That shook me from inside as I’m a big time nature lover. But I wish everyone a very happy Makar Sankranti.

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Sehban Azim (Adhura Alvida) – I grew up in northern India so Makar Sankranti was known as Lohri. The festival marks the end of winters and when its time for the harvest. My recollection of Lohri or Makara Sankranti goes back with my school and college. My friends and I would be flying kites, lighting bonfires, devouring scrumptious food and having a wonderful time. I love flying kites and would love to do it again and again. The best part of the evening was to fly a kite with a candle attached to it and then leave it in the sky. The longer it stayed in the sky, the longer the happiness would last.

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Dolly Sohi (Meri Durga) – I used to celebrate when I was a kid. I used to fly kites and dance around a bone fire. But now I don’t fly kites anymore unless I have to do it on my show.

 

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Priyamvada Kant (Tenali Rama) – That’s a festival I’ve learnt to celebrate in Bombay! My friends and I go to the beach to fly kites. Since my childhood, I’ve been worried about cutting my fingers with the manjha, so I’m very very careful. I’m mostly engrossed in eating all the interesting dishes that are cooked on that day.

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Sachin Parikh ( Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Ek Deewana Tha & Dil Se Dil Tak)– The fondest memories of my childhood are connected to the festivals we used to celebrate. Makarsankranti and Navratri were the most fascinating memories I have during my childhood. Late night garbas with entire gang and dropping all of them home, one by one. Kite flying was another childhood memories which is still so fresh in my mind. Buying around 400 kites and the late night preparation for the next day. We would spend the whole day on the terrace with the music system and snacks. Til ke laddoo and chikki, and tava pulav and pav bhaji was our usual menu for the whole day. In the evening, we used to fly kites and light lanterns and at times would even sleep on terrace after doing all this crazy stuff.

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Sshrey Pareek (Last Seen In Devanshi) – Makar sakranti is one of my favorite festivals from the last four five years. I’m not able to celebrate it but this time I am in Jaipur and will definitely celebrate it. I’m really good at flying kites. Usually, I used to celebrate it at my home, mom used to make lot of dishes, we would have a DJ on the terrace. But this time, I am celebrating it at my friend’s place. We have decided to set up a screen and a DJ along with food and beverages and of course a kite flying competition.

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Sneha Wagh (Sher E Punjab – Maharaja Ranjit Singh) – We don’t celebrate this festival, as I lost my grandfather on the same day. He was the eldest in the house. So it’s mostly a mourning day for us.

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Hrishikesh Pandey (Porus) – From childhood, every year I remember the first thing we used to do is have a bath and then do puja of Suryadev. Then we would have Til ke Laddu. There is a traditional khichdi which is made in the afternoon with desi ghee, and after the puja you would have that. When we were small, we used to fly kites on the terrace and used to have a lot of fun. Now, of course, I understand that there are birds get hurt or even killed by the kites. So now I avoid that.

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Jasmin Bhasin (Dil Se Dil Tak) – My memories of Makar Sankranti include flying kites with all my cousins. We used to enjoy a lot on our terrace. We would also have Til and Gud ka laddu. I will try to fly a kite on this Makar Sankranti too.