Pulling strings

With Makar Sankranti tomorrow and the day after, kites will fly high and til gud concoctions spread their crunchy sweetness

Makar Sankranti are days when most fly kites for a lark. Yet, for 56-year-old flyer Shayzaday Abbas, kite flying goes beyond fun, it is a passion.

Deep cuts in his fingers due to maanja (kite thread) are evidence of his vast experience as a kite flier.
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"What started as a hobby when I was six, has become an integral part of my life now," says the veteran kite flier.
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Abbas has represented Maharashtra and India at various kite flying events in the country and abroad. He belongs to the Golden Kite Club, one of the oldest clubs in the city, which was established in 1973.

He and his team have won competitions in France, Germany and the Czech Republic, an accomplishment he talks proudly about, "Representing the country at the highest level was just wonderful."

Abbas can never stop talking about kites.

He seems to be a walking encyclopedia of kites. "Flying kites can be very technical," he explains and adds, "it's like wrestling.

The only difference is that in kite flying it's a fight between man-made flying birds in the air and there's no physical contact between the rivals.

You need both theoretical and practical knowledge about flying kites and the more you practice it the better you become," says Abbas.
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Like cricket, kite flying too has its own rules. "If you can bring nine kites down, then it's like a century in cricket," Abbas explains.

MYTHOLOGY

Makar Sankranti is a harvest festival, which is celebrated in many parts of India. This year, according to the Hindu almanac, Sankranti will be celebrated on January 15.

Known as Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Bihu in Assam and Sankranti in other parts of the country, the day is celebrated when the sun enters the rashi (zodiac sign) of Makar (Capricorn).

According to another legend, Sankranti is a Hindu deity, who killed an Asura (demon) called Sankarasur on the day. Apart from thanksgiving,u00a0 laddus made of til (sesame seeds) and gud (jaggery) called til guds are another festival fixture but the star attraction is the kite festival.

In India, kites were commonly used to send signals, messages as well as to locate enemies. It is an ancient sport and Indian literature, folklore and poems abound with the mention of kite flying.

The International Kite Festival in Gujarat, which started in 1989, has a sense of pride and nationalism attached to it. Thousands of people from all over the world travel to Gujarat where the International Kite Festival is held every year.

CELEBRATION

This year the Desai family of Kandivali (W) is breaking from the past and instead of going to their village in Gujarat for the festival they are celebrating it in Mumbai.

"This year we would be celebrating it here with our family and friends, but our enthusiasm will be the same," says homemaker Dimple Kamal Desai.
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Kite flying is not just another form of entertainment for the Desais, it is, according to them, a serious affair. The family has specially flown in maanja from Surat to win the kite flying competition in their area.

"We have more than a dozen kites at home and this is a special kind of thread which is much stronger," explains Desai.

For Geeta Rajendra Mehta (40) from Malad, kite flying will be accompanied with a thanksgiving ceremony and helping the poor and the needy. "It is all about having fun but also being responsible towards the society," says Mehta.

Fast life and paucity of time has severely affected the sport in Mumbai, which was very popular until a few years ago. Says Ashok Datkhile (49), an SBI employee, "Fifteen years ago, kite flying competitions would start almost a month in advance but now nobody has time.
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The culture itself is different," he elaborates. Datkhile, claims he was quite adept at kite flying when he was in school. "We used to practice a lot as there were many open grounds. Now where's the place and moreover it is the age of computers and Internet," he adds.

Space crunch and high-rise buildings have left little spaces for the sport of kite flying.

"Unlike before, kite flying appeals to very few people. It's just there for two days and that's it," says Prakash Thakur (55), who has been selling kites for the last 30 years.

LIBERATION

Flying kites have always been associated with liberation. The gay community in the city will also celebrating the festival. "We have been organising a kite flying event for five years now," says Vikram Doctor of Gay Bombay group, a social support group.

Carter Road Khar Residents Association are also organising a kite festival on Sunday at the Carter road promenade (opposite Cafe Coffee Day).

"We are organising such a festival for the first time so that people can actively participate," says Preeti Mehrotra, Secretary, Carter Road Khar Residents Association.u00a0 A Facebook campaign called, KITE FLYING... Gravity cannot stop you! to popularise the sport already has 89 members.

RISKY

One needs to be extra careful while flying kites. "Two years ago, a woman's throat was slashed by a maanja," says Dr Chandrakant Kambli, a general practitioner.

Says Dr Sunil Moreker, consultant eye surgeon at Mumbai's Cumballa Hill Hospital, "first of all I would advise the kite flyers themselves to wear Ultra-Violet (UV) rays protected eye wear because they would be looking into the sun for long periods of time, while flying kites."

The pedestrian and the unwary commuter are especially susceptible to mishaps. Says Dr Moreker, "there are a couple of factors one has to keep in mind.

There are some people whose vision is excellent, they can see the smallest of characters on the vision chart. They can spot the thinnest of slivers, in their case; they can also see the kite strings - called the maanja.

They may be able to avoid it, if they see it while walking. In several cases, people cannot spot the maanja at all, as it is so fine.

So, it is better to avoid an area if you know it would be a kite-flying zone. Yet, in a city like Mumbai, this might not be practical. So I would say, walk with caution and if you are on a two-wheeler ride slowly."


A boy holding a butterfly shaped kite

Dr Moreker says that some people might have, "contrast problems." For instance, if a, "white maanja is silhouetted against a white building, they may not be able to spot it."
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Then of course says the doc, "one might see the string but if you are on a bike and very fast, it might be impossible to stop, static vision is different from moving vision. I would tell people to wear resistant eyewear, you get glasses that do not shatter and scatter even if broken, this would protect the eyes."

Yet, life is uncertain and in case of an eye injury, Dr Moreker says:

Have a plan ready in case you are injured. Keep an emergency number or get somebody to take you to a doctor as soon as possible.

In case your eye is cut, do not start wiping the area with water as it may trigger off an infection

Do not put eye drops in the wounded eyeu00a0

Do not try any self-medication, or tie cloths or hankies on the affected eye, just see a doctor immediately.

Brisk Business

Makar Sankranti and kite flying is a time when communal lines are blurred and Muslim-Hindu differences are forgotten.

Kites are generally made by the Muslims and are sold to Hindu customers. For master kite-maker Haji Mukim Amman Khan (43), kite making is more of a legacy.

Khan is the second generation of kite makers in his family. His shop in Dongri has customers from all over Mumbai.
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The kites, he says, are made in Bareilly and are sold all over the country. "I have been in this business for 20 years now," says Khan.

His brother, Mujib Khan, helps him run the business. Mujib, who is also a skillful kite maker, says kite making is a special skill, "It's not easy to make a kite.

Dedication and rigorous practice is important to master the craft," he says as he draws a few pencil marks on a sheet of paper. Khan has specific themes for this year's kite festival.

"Mehengai (price rise) which is affecting the aam aadmi (common man) is the main theme.

Apart from this we also have kites with pictures of various cartoon characters on them," explains Khan. The price depends on the quality and the decoration of the kite.

The prices can vary from Re 1 to Rs 30. Imported kites from China are also quite popular among kite enthusiasts as they are more "user friendly."
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"These kites are made of cloth and hence can be folded," says Khan. But Chinese kites are far more expensive than Indian paper kites. Starting from Rs 15, they can go up to as much as Rs 300 a kite.

Hazard

Kite flying can result in several mishaps too. Many birds die during the festival, as they get entangled in the maanja. The threads, which are glass coated, can cut the wings quite easily.
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"The maanja is so fine that birds sometimes cannot see it in flight and hence their wings or their throats get cut.

The after-effects of the kite festival are even more hazardous. The kites get stuck in the trees and nobody bothers to remove them.

Hence after the festival is over, lots of birds die as they get entangled into the maanja," says bird expert Aadesh Shivkar.

The worst affected are pigeons, black kites, crows and barn owls. "The government must first of all ban glass-coated maanjas," says Shivkar.

"Last year almost 250-300 birds were injured with the maanjas which are coated with glass and wax," says Colonel J C Khanna, Secretary of Bombay Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals (BSPCA).

Rs 1-Rs 30
Cost of paper kites

Rs 15-Rs 300
Cost of Chinese kites

250-300
Birds injured during the kite festival last year