Yellu-Bella -- Take in flavours of life!

Uttarayan (Kite flying) for some, Bihu for someone else, Sankranti for some, Pongal for someone else, Lohri for some, Maghe Sakrati for someone else...Thingyan in Myanmar and Songran in Thailand!

All the same - festival welcoming the celestial transition of sun into Capricorn! Time of the year when days will begin to become longer, days when you can witness loads of sugarcane being harvested! We, as kids, used to run into the fileds during the harvesting season to pick up canes with a bunch of friends, and spend hours biting into the fibre and relishing the sweetness! "Tilkut" in Patna, "yellu-Bella" at home (wonderful mixture of sesame seeds, jaggery, etc...unique blend and taste), tasty sweet pongal...women running around with their own rituals of excahnging "yellu-bella"!

Go to Gujarat/Rajasthan and you will enjoy this beautiful day - people pitch themselves at the terrace and roofs, enjoy flying kites with cheers and smile on their face. They enjoy Uttarayan with sound of 'Kaypo che' (I cut the kites) . Azure blue sky now resembles a rainbow with kites of all colors, shapes and sizes floating around vying to cut each other. People of Gujarat also enjoy this festival by having food called "Tal-sankadi" and "chiki" (Sweets), which is like sesame bar and peanut bar. The festival of Uttarayan is magnificent and festival for all people. It is festival of gathering and having fun together. The fun flows continuously till whole night, as kite lovers enjoy flying white kites in dark night.

In South India - it is pongal/Sankranti. In Kannada, there is a saying - "yellu-bella tindu, volleya maatanu aadi"...roughly translated, it means..."eat sesame-jaggery and say only good things"! It is more an affirmation of the fact that our words mean a lot - it should be measured and always pleasant! Apart from the general festivities, the cultural aspects are intriguing and wonderful. Families with girl-children can especially enjoy the exchanges of "yellu-bella", turmeric & vermillion, flowers...and then the fragrant pongal to devour!