Kite-flying might be a quintessential part of Makar Sankranti, but what’s a festival without some sweets? At the three-day International Kite and Sweet Festival, the choice of visitors seems rather clear.
More than being excited about flying kites or watching some innovative ones being flown, they are being pulled towards the stalls selling the 1,200-odd varieties of traditional home-made sweets from 25 Indian states and 22 countries. Even the organisers admitted that the Sweet Festival is witnessing more footfalls than the Kite Festival.
On the second day of the festival, a designated part of Parade Ground, Secunderabad, housing the sweet stalls, was jam-packed right from the commencement of business hours at 3 p.m. From bobbatlu of the Telugu States to Brazil’s Beijinho and Odisha-Bengal’s Rasagulla, the home-made sweets, mostly priced reasonably, sold like hot cakes.
Many made a beeline for the stalls of Bengali and Andhra sweets. Outside, at the food court, there were many takers for Kolkata’s egg roll, momos, varieties of biryanis and Chinese food.
An aberration to the goings-on at the sweet stalls or food court were an announcement by public address system that visitors can pick up free water bottles of a branded company from their outlets. But, the visitors were anguished at the stall managers turning them away saying it was a false announcement. That led to mild tension at the venue.