Kite Flying on Sankranthi

I could not figure out kite flying. I did not know the way to buy the right kites, did not know how to punch holes, tie the knots, tie the thread etc. If the kite flew I was more than happy to hold it and exult in the feeling. If someone challenged my kite I was helpless - there was no one to complain to. The aggressor would cut my kite off and laugh and I'd pack up sheepishly. Didn't happen too  many times but I could never understand why they were cutting my kite when I had not challenged them to a duel in the first place. In that sense Ram, my brother, was much smarter at kites and marbles. I had no sense of survival.

Ready for action

Oh, oh! Not as easy as it looks

Armed with such dismal experiences I kept away from kite flying. I did not have the patience of Mohan who went to Gulzar House to buy manja. Not that Mohan was too successful at cutting off other kites but as with all things Mohan did, the excitement was more in the journey than the result. As I grew older I kept further and further away from these kites and confessed to my complete ignorance on the matter.

Bliss of participating

Okay, let's go

Now Anjali is old enough to want to experience all these things and my past comes up like a ghost. How do I now make peace with these kites? How do I tie the thread? A couple of years ago we actually bought kites, thread, charkha etc but knew nothing of how to get it flying. The pathetic kite flew two feet and nose dived. I felt the frustration the Wright Brothers must have experienced in that fifteen minutes.

Mama's helping out - there she flies!

So when Vasu the adventurous, suggested that we fly kites at his house in Banjara Hills I found the perfect answer to my dilemma. I took Anjali to the housetop there where Vasu and Ranjan were engaged in kite flying with Ananya and Ishan. Anita and Geeta sat in the shade which was the perfect place for me. Anjali joined the kite flyers and well - held the charkha which is the first job given to every new comer and an important one, held the thread and pulled at it and felt the happiness of holding the string of a live kite. All in all, a most satisfying outing again.

Ananya and Anjali

Alright, looks good

Let me navigate

I haven't done this yet

But there were not many kites around. There were too many buildings, too few kites. Also the kites and thread and manja we had was apparently Chinese. What the hell are they doing making our kites and manja? Wonder what else they are producing for us?