IN INDIA LOVE SOARS LIKE KITES

AHMEDABAD, India - Love soars like kites. And sure enough, tales of friendship and sweet reunion fill the air as kite flyers from across the world mingle at the 21st International Kite Festival in Gujarat's principal city.
For Sorotti Damaris of Spain, 29, travelling with her husband to the festival is the best way to "express her love and care" for him as the two pursue their passion for kite-flying together.

• "My husband is a kite flyer and kite-flying is his first love. Coming to the Gujarat festival is my way of sharing my love for him. It has made me understand him better," Damaris, who learnt the art after marriage, told Indian News.
• The festival, with participants from 37 countries and eight Indian states, takes place between January 11 and 14 in three different regions of Gujarat. A friend who wants to understand the intricacies of expressing emotions through kite flying also accompanied the Damaris couple on their third visit to Ahmedabad.
• "I am a music lover; so I have come to this festival with acrobat kites. They fly in the air on synchronised rhythm just like synchronised-acrobat sport," said Spanish team-member Helena Molinero, 30, accompanying her friend Damaris.
• "It is a way to evoke feelings of joy that come only when you see the kite dancing high in the sky," said Molinero in a mix of Spanish, English and hand gestures.
• The saga of friendship doesn't end here. Two old friends located time zones apart from each other meet every year at the kite festival. They are Raymon Degraaf from the Netherlands and Greg Mountjay from South Africa who met on an Indian train eight years ago on their way to the festival in 2003.
• The friendship grew and the two reunited again at the 21st edition of the festival. "Degraaf and I make sure we meet every year at this festival. The charm of Gujarat and kites manage to bring us together," Mountjay say.
• Such tales abound, say tourism authorities. Farooque Pathan, tourist officer with Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited, said: "During this festival, we have also seen marriages happening, inter-country relations changing and bonds growing stronger."

Pathan, who has been giuding tourist for the past eight years at the festival added about the festival: "This year, we have it at three different venues — Rann of Kutch, Ahmedabad and the Mandwi beach.
"The teams will be the same, but the regional participation by people will change with the venue."

Source: AFP