FLYING HIGH WITH THE KITES

Each year on Republic Day, the Puravankara Kite Fest is held at Oxford Golf Club and is a very popular expat event organized by Lexagent Expat Locations and the Pune Expat Club. The venue is beautiful a sprawling golf course in the hills above Pune with views for miles. This year, the event was spread out over two large greens plus the upper lawns. As you exited the clubhouse, you would find the upper lawn set up with tables and a food-for-purchase area. Next to this was the kite-making area where you could purchase kites from vendors. On the other upper lawn was a display by an outdoor gear company who were offering a chance at paintball and archery for a fee.

There were vendors advertising their services or products. On entering, everyone was given a raffle ticket, and once you had visited all the vendors and had your ticket stamped, you could turn your ticket in for the raffle that was drawn every 15 minutes or so, offering prizes of dining vouchers and activities. The DJ playing loud Indian music ran through a nice playlist and made announcements throughout the event. For the most part, this was wonderful, the only hitch being when the DJ was not aware of the seriously foul and offensive English lyrics in a couple of the songs, which resulted in several dads frantically racing to the DJ to insist he turn the song off!

As you wandered past the vendor and food area, two long greens stretched down for several hundred meters. To the left, you could follow the path down and back up to a lovely bluff where hundreds of people dotted the lawns with colorful kites flying above and children running up and down to keep their kites in the air. The only downside to the venue is that being a golf course, wonderful windbreaks are planted all along the greens. While this makes golfing more pleasant, it’s far from ideal for kite-flying. But the children, especially, didn’t seem to mind and they ran about getting their kites into the sky for minutes at a time. There were some huge and elaborate kites, like a 4-metre dragon and a large cobra with a 20-metre tail. The kites that flew the best were the small ones the children made for themselves, and it is always a joy to watch children explode with joy when their kites take to the skies.

To the right, there was another long green with a bouncy castle for kids to play on, and long stretching greens where families gathered and chattered, flew kites, and visited with friends. Several hundred people mixed and mingled, 90 percent of whom were probably expats. On the putting green, they had hourly put-put golf lessons and contests. There was a kids’ craft station and some STEM activities, too.

Everywhere you looked were beautiful green spaces, blue skies dotted with colorful kites, and families from at least six continents and 40 countries enjoying the company of each other.

At the end of the evening, there was a professionally flown kite show where the kites lit the skies with LED lights. There were kites lit with wheeling bicycles, colorful peacocks, and exploding fireworks.

Jill, originally an American expat, now an immigrant to India, said that she was surprised by how many people there were. She said it was a joy to watch so many families relaxing together in the sunshine on a beautiful warm day.

K and A, newly arrived ex-pats from Germany and South Africa were astounded at the warm welcome they received from other ex-pats as they took their children around to the various activities and met people who’d been here longer and were happy to bring them into the ever-changing fabric of the expat community. No matter where you come from, the kite festival brings you out and together to enjoy a beautiful Pune day.