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A student fought the harsh winds flying her kite during the "Basant: Festival of Kites," put on by the Pakistani Student Association on Sunday at Simpson Drill Field.

A student flies a large kite on Sunday at Simpson Drill Field.

Students spring into season by flying kites

By: Rebecca Skelton

Posted: 4/6/09

The Pakistani Students Association's (PSA) Festival of Kites took place Sunday on Simpson Drill Field from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The festival is part of Basant, a Pakistani celebration that brings in the first day of spring, and is traditionally celebrated within the first two months of the year but was late this year to coincide with Asian Heritage Month.

"The festival gives us a platform to get together and mingle with other people," said Events Coordinator Taiyyib Choudhry, a senior electrical engineering technology major. "Internationals that are far from home can meet people to relate to and other people can come out and meet with different folks."

The festival had many attractions aside from kite flying, such as authentic Pakistani food and music. The food was served free of charge and included channa chawal, a dish composed of chickpeas and rice with raita, a yogurt dip, on top. The PSA also sold authentic Pakistani kites at the festival for $5, the cost of which was paid for out of the officers' pockets.

The most expensive part of the kite is the string, which is made from finely ground up glass and coated with sap. These strings resulted in a few minor lacerations of participants at the festival.

As PSA's main event for the year, officers spent the past few months working hard to bring the festival together.

"The hardest part is knowing how many people will turn out," said webmaster Maryam Ansari , a junior biomedical science major.

Although about 80 people showed up for the festival this year, more were expected because of the relatively high turn out last year despite the adverse weather conditions.

"I think all together the event was really good," said PSA President Rukhama Riaz, a junior nutrition major. "A lot of people from the community came this year while last year mainly only Pakistani students showed up, so that was different."

Asian Heritage Month takes place from March 23 to April 25 and sponsored by the Asain President's Council (APC).

"Our goal is to unite Asian organizations on campus and get all the groups involved in the other organization's events," said treasurer of APC Vivian Hui, a sophomore biomedical engineering major.

Other events this month include Islam Awareness week, the Ni-Howdy Talent Show by the Chinese Student Association, and the Mr. Asia Pageant presented by the Hong Kong Student Association.