Flying kites, soaring spirits

Hyderabad: Sankranti, the ‘festival of kites’ is round the corner and the excitement among youngsters is palpable. Gulzar Houz, the city’s oldest kite market near Charminar is abuzz with sales of manjas and kites. However, the excitement and the sales are low due to ongoing exams.

123-year-old, Mehboob Patang House, belonging to Late Mohd Mehboob is the oldest one in the market. M A Kareem and his grandsons are now incharge. Most of the shops in Gulzar Houz are seasonal. They wrap up their little show once the festival is over, but Mehboob Patang House stays open all round the year.

“The response is lukewarm this year as schools are still functioning. It was so busy last year with the school holidays that we hardly had time to eat. Now we have four days to sell before the festival arrives. Also, youngsters interests in kites are slowly waning,” said Muzzamil, who works at Mehboob Patang House.

Venu Gopal Bajaj of Bajaj Patang Mahal echoes the same thought. “The sales are weak this year as the schools are open. Since the festival dint coincide with the exams last year, the sales were good. Also there no holidays this year. I guess the sales will go up after the exams conclude.”

Chinese kites usurp domestic ones

Fancy kites and Chinese kites are more in demand than the traditional ones. Though the former are a little expensive, people don’t mind shelling out extra bucks. Everyone is looking forward to the kite fights . They are filling up their arsenal with all kinds of special manja and charaks.

Kai Po Che

Every Sankranti witnesses extremely skilled people participating in kite-duels. The important weapon here is the manja (cotton line coated with powdered glass). Traditional manjas in Hyderabad are a passé. Now there is a craze for the Chinese manja which is 10 times stronger than the regular manja.

With makers from China and Rai Barelli foraying into the market of manjas, many traditional manja makers are out of business and have switched to alternate sources. Syed Iqbal, a manja maker from Dabeerpura, laments that the business of manja making is a waste of investment. He had to close shop owing to dwindling customers.

“Manja is very important in kite duels. One needs a special eye to choose a good manja. I and my friends go to the Old City to purchase them. Tangoos manja is new in market. I hope we get the best manja,” Arun, a student, shares.

Begum Bazaar: Adda for Kite Duels

Begum Bazaar in the Old City is pretty famous for kite duels. People use loud speakers on their terraces and fly their kites at the break of dawn. Passing through Begum Baazar, one can hear the blaring music and people shouting ‘kaat’ (cut) encouraging the participants to cut each other’s manja. Kite enthusiasts also put up halogen lights pointing towards the sky at night. Then there are special ‘candle kites’, which have special compartments for candles.

These look like floating lamps at night. Not many people know that kites have names based on designs and shapes. The names include Lehenga Patang, Do Kalam, Do Kalam Jibiya, Do Ankidhar, Dulhan Patang, Sada Patang and Fishcut Patang. Name or no name, people love to fly kites and engage in kite duels in the festive spirit of Sankranthi.

By:Navin Pivhal