After an intense week of missed flights, phone problems and course registration, I was ready for a change of pace. Something off campus to preoccupy my mind for a while was just what I needed — enter Hyderabad’s International Kite Festival, the perfect escape.

Many similar events are held all over the country as part of the celebrations of the festival Makara Sankranti.

The harvest festival marks the movement of the sun into the Capricorn (Makara) zodiac sign. This transition is the first to occur after the winter solstice, and thus marks the beginning of winter’s gradual demise as well as the end of the current harvest season. Although each zodiac transition has a corresponding Sankranti, the two most important are Makara Sankranti and Karka (Cancer) Sankranti.

The venue for the kite festival was roughly an hour and a half away, so the bus rolled out of the campus at 7:45 a.m. with students in various stages of sleep deprivation headed for the festival.

We were originally supposed to arrive at the very start of the festival, however, as it sometimes happens in India, the program was running behind.  This translated to standing by the ticket booth for an hour waiting to get into the event. Despite the lackluster start, once we entered and took our seats on the ground bordering the professional kiters’ field, it was worth the wait.

Endless strings of butterflies, hand painted faces and a massive whale were just a few of the kites manned by teams and volunteers from multiple countries. Perusing the stalls selling food, crafts or giving away amateur kites gave us the perfect opportunity to stretch our legs when they became stiff from sitting.

When EDM wasn’t blasting over the speakers, performers put on cultural shows consisting of dances and Hindu epics on stage.

When stress and tension builds, the best remedy is a change of scenery and an activity to occupy yourself with. Whether that change of scenery is in the form of a weekend trip or just a drive to a movie in a theater on the other side of town, you may find the time spent away from the causes of your stress will enable you to better tackle them once you return.

Hyderabad’s International Kite Festival was exactly what I needed.

Laura is an NDSU student currently studying in Hyderabad, India. She writes a weekly column on her experiences while abroad.