New Delhi: As India celebrates the Uttarayan festival, people from across the nation are making eye-catching kites with various themes this year. Similarly a family from Gujarat’s Surat has made a 5 foot kite-shaped art using 5-kg wheat grains with a message to observe COVID protocols amid the ongoing pandemic.
Speaking to news agency ANI on the kite art, Kusum Jadav said, “Through this art, we urge people to maintain social distancing and wear mask while celebrating the festival.”
The kite art has imageries of people maintaining social distancing and wearing masks. It also has a message written in Gujarati language which urges people to follow guidelines owing to the novel coronavirus disease.
Kite flying is a major aspect of the festival of Makar Sankranti during which people usually take out kites in varying colours to celebrate the harvest festival. The state of Gujarat even holds kite competitions during this festival, however, this year, the Gujarat government has issued a set of guidelines to be followed by the citizens during the kite flying festival as it usually leads to large gatherings.
Hence, the guidelines set in view of the pandemic, only family members would be allowed on their terraces during kite flying. The state government would also be strictly monitoring the market places such as Raipur Tankshaal, Naroda, among others with drone and CCTV cameras to stop gathering of crowds as well as banning the use of loudspeakers and sound systems on terraces.