Kites...

                      It was the morning of 14^th January, the festival of Maker Sankranti, when one of my friends, who is Gujarati, wished me Happy Uttarayan. And it was then when I came to know that Maker Sankranti is also known as Uttarayan. Many people all over the country enjoy it as a festival of Kites. As far as you can see, the sky is full of kites of different colours. What a lovely sight!

                     So how could I resist my temptation to fly a kite myself? Though I am not good at it, but I know that my papa has flown it for many years when he himself was a child. So I thought that he would happily teach me.

                     Hence I rushed at once to him with a request to buy me some kites. But his reply totally amazed me, “No....no kites at all. Go and just sit to study. It’s time for you to concentrate on your studies only ... leave kite flying for stray children. ”

                    I was shocked. How could papa say this! Was this the same father who uses to tell tales of his monopoly in flying kites in his locality? How proudly he often told me and mom the whole description of how he defeated other children in a kite flying competition.

                     I kept on pleading, but his reply remained unchanged, “What is the use of kite flying?” Suddenly an idea struck my mind and I said, “What if kite flying increases my knowledge?”  Now it was Papa’s turn to be amazed. I had read about kites sometimes back in an encyclopaedia, which I still remembered. I poured everything before him and he was so impressed that my wish was immediately fulfilled.
                 

I think you would also be interested to know what I told him...so here I go- Kites are said to be invented in China approximately 3000years back. They were used for various purposes. Even too big kites were used to carry warriors with bows and arrows to attack enemies from above.From china, it had been carried away to various Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and India. Kites were introduced in Europe by Marco Polo in the 13th century. In India, kite is popularly known as PATANG.Previously kites were used for mere amusement and was also related to some religious and mythological beliefs, but later on in the 17th and 18th century , it was also being used for scientific research and experiments, military purposes, photography etc. Besides this, investigation has been made for the use of kites in power generation.Some other countries where too kite flying is very popular are-Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Greece, Cyprus, Chile, Colombia and Guyana. In India, every year an international kite festival is organised in Ahmadabad and Jaipur, where kite lovers are gathered from all over the world.



                                INTERNATIONAL KITE FESTIVAL,2011 AT AHMADABAD