Flying Kites, A treat in pandemic

Author: Meghna

“Di, I am going on the terrace. It’s time for raghav to have a kite match with me!” said my younger
brother running towards the staircases leading to the terrace without even waiting for an
affirmation. Such is the thrill that drives him into doing something that would save him from the
boredom, COVID 19 bestowed on the world. Some unintentional good revival. Just like my
brother, countless young to old people gather on the terrace for their ritualistic procession of
flying kites. My grandfather who has always been fond of kites holds more than 50 ‘Latias’ ( A
roller for the strings of kite) filled with manjha and saddi and almost 100-200 kites with all
varieties like Panni ki patang, guddi, dedh kanni,( Names of patang - features) with each kite for
different kind of occasion and wind speed. In my household that consists of my grandparents,
parents, uncle- aunt , and cousin, everyone knows how to fly a kite including me. It was a keen
interest of my grandfather to teach us a hobby with passion and give away some of the secrets to
have a winning kite fight. Just like my household everyone else in the neighbourhood has known
to fly kites.It has been an intangible knowledge that's been passed on from generations to
generations. Now, it was my brother’s turn to embrace this tradition and fall in love with flying
kites.

Flying kites has been considered as one of the most traditional and ancient sports of India, that
can be enjoyed both by young and adult the same way. A typical Indian kite is made of
lightweight tissue paper reinforced with bamboo suspension. They are mostly available in a
diamond shape. These kites come in single/ double/ multicolour options as per the kite flyer’s
choice. There are various designs painted/ pasted in these kites to give a creative touch and
enhance the beauty of kites. For bridling there are two holes made first at the conjunction of the
bow and spin at the crossway and other two holes are made towards the bottom about two- third
length from about the top of the spine. They are connected with threads to form a V shape line
tied with a knot and then the thread attached with the Latai or spool this process is called Kanni
bandhan. The thread that's connected can be either a Saddi or a Manjha. A Saddi thread is a
normal cotton thread usually a little thicker than a sewing thread whereas a Manjha is an
advanced version of Saddi thread where the cotton thread is glazed with glass coated glue to
make it stronger and tougher to fight with other kite flyer’s thread.
Kids often would flock around my grandfather to learn new tricks and techniques. “ Babuji ,
(pench ladana) kab sikhayenge?”
There is a small wooden machine that he made out of scrap wood to aid and speed up the

process of rolling the thread in the spool. He calls it “ xyz”. Apparently he learned to make it from
other of his old fellow passionate kite flyer friends. Indian kite flying as mentioned is not just
limited to flying kites for fun but also indulge in kite fighting competitions where they would make
sure that their push-pull technique is able to cut the threads of the opponent and their kite stays
firm in the sky rising proudly after victory.

As a kid I always used to wonder, what it is about kites that it always intrigues me to learn about
it more? Is it just fascination? I realised later “ We fly kites, because we like to fly like birds.”
Quarantine during the pandemic has been one of the most difficult times for everyone. Finding
mental peace was something that was being disturbed by this chaotic silence. There was a
complete cutoff from all the possible sources of interaction . But our colony found its way to cope
up with the difficult time by connecting through the sky i.e. by flying kites. The period between
March - July the revival in this kite flying tradition that has been fading away. In the past decade
considerably . Everyday people regardless of the age boundaries would flock in the evening to
the terrace and engage in a conversation through the sky until the dark skies of the evening.
So today, my brother, already being into training 3 months down, has learned the basics a bit
and today is his big match day. He is rolling the thread with an intense expression with having
some strategy in his mind to compete with his fellow friend and be crowned with a proud victory.
He is filling up his latai with manjha . He tried to firmly check the tension in the bamboo sticks by
pressing the kite against his head. The flexibility was good to go . He is still learning and cant yet
handle the pressure created through the big paper kites so he still prefers flying polythene kites
that are lighter and easier to control and are meant for lower skies. After he was all prepared with
his battle gears. He fixed the latai under a brick and tried to give a gentle push to the kite to
launch it in the air. After struggling for ten mins of pushing and pulling on threads, the kite was all
afloat pleasantly sailing the waves of sky. After getting comfortable with the weight of the kite.
The eyes were set on the opponents black kite across the neighbouring street. And then it
started. The black kite raged toward the direction of my brother red Panni patang. He wrapped
his fingers with tape to prevent any injuries from Manjha. The fight started. He ran about the
terrace panning all the corners.
My brother approached from the bottom while the opponent from the top. It was a constant battle
of letting the thread lose and tightly pulling it in order to entrap the other person’s thread about
the opponents. This continues until my brother's knight finally gives in and gracefully starts falling
down the sky like a fa
llen angel.
That’s how even after the training he was still not prepared to take the person one on one.
Maybe he needs more training . even being the most confident that this time he is going to be
victorious the efforts were still in vain.
 My cousin joined in the kite flying session and both my brother and him enjoyed their time in the
sky peacefully for the day with no more battle. The kite high in the sky amidst the pinkish sky
appeared very serene. Guess that's it for the adventure.

Learning to cope up with losing while finding a balance to stay sane, that's what flying kites
bestowed with. It's still got a long way to go in this urban setting. May this tradition keep growing
ever more as the time passes. And a sky full of kites shall keep with their dance.