Kite fliers have a field day

January 17, 2011 12:48 pm | Updated 12:48 pm IST - VISAKHAPATNAM:

It was a grand colourful spectacle at the kite festival organised by Bala Vikas Foundation at MGM Selvee World. Several kite enthusiasts gathered at the venue to take part in the contest.

The skies were filled with kites, the beach with people and the air, with exhilaration.

The kite festival was inaugurated by MLA V.R.K. Babu.

Participants came not just to give a tough fight to the other competitors but also to display their fancy collections of kites from different parts of the world at the festival.

The organisers also kept lot of stalls of kites and other paraphernalia at the venue. The place was teeming with jubilant kite-flyers who kept their eyes glued to the sky with the sole intent of getting their kite to stay up while leaving the others floating about with sliced strings.

Innovative shapes

The kites were worth a look for their size and the different innovative designs — there was a kite in the form of a grand ship that sailed in the blue backdrop of the sky, an eagle that soared magnificently and another that looked like a demon carrying a shield.

Among the lot it was the grand ship-shaped kite of R. Ramamohan Roy that finally won the first prize.

“I had got the kite as a gift from Indonesia.

It is made of fine silk cloth and is a great pleasure to see it soar in the sky,” says Roy. He has a collection of interesting shaped kites from Indonesia.

“Kite flying used to be almost as popular as cricket some years ago. We used to stay at the beach the whole day and fly kites,” recalled Suri, a participant. Many old-timers enjoyed the day to the fullest and aptly showed their prowess in kite-flying.

Mythical dimension

Kites made their first appearance over three thousand years ago in China. Bamboo was used for the frame and silk for the sail.

The kites had a mythical and religious dimension. During World War – II, kites were also used as gunnery targets.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.