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Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

Soaring spirits Flying kites is high on youngsters’ agenda for Sankranti

For the next few days, the city skies will wear a different look. The festive look seems to have already set in with hundreds of kites in the afternoon sky. No matter where you look from, kites and kites is all you’ll find. That’s Sankranti for you, Hyderabadi style.

“It’s not about flying kites, but more about bringing them down,” says Sai Kiran, an engineering student. As ten year-old Shankar says, “Last year I flew kites for the first time. All my kites became affa (were downed by other kites) within the first few hours itself. This year I’m ready for the challenge. I’m excited about taking on my neighbourhood bhaiyyas.”

For most youngsters it’s the showdown between the kites that is the highlight of this three-day harvest festival. “In our place it’s like one apartment block versus another. But when some kite from another area comes into our area, we all fight him unitedly. Together we try to force him into a position where our other friends can cut his kite down. But once the outside kite is downed, it’s back to internal rivalry between our locality guys,” says Vikram Kumar of MVSR engineering college.

There’s more to flying kites than what meets the eye; it’s not simply about blind luck. Flying is an art and involves a lot of strategy and skill. Lot of thinking goes into this. From choosing the kite to selecting the ‘maanja’, every detail is taken care of.

But what’s the mantra to get an upper hand in this game, where it’s all about cutting the opponent’s kite?

“Maanja is the deciding factor,” believes Karthik, another engineering student. In fact they can be dangerous, he says, as they are coated with soda-glass powder.

His classmate Ranadheer counters saying kites are more important. The smaller the better, he says. But ask him if he’ll go with any maanja and he tells, “Certainly not any maanja. Only wire maanja from Charminar side will do.”

Vikram believes he has science on his side as he says, “Even with the best maanja, you can’t win if you don’t have a good kite. It’s got to do with the Physics. If the kite’s heavy, it will have more balance in the air and the thread and maanja will stand stiff due to the tension created in the thread, like a rod. And this helps in cutting the other kite’s thread.”

For Jaydeep, an engineering student, it’s simply about flying as many kites as possible. He spends as much as 3000 bucks on his kites every year.

But the fun doesn’t end with the flying. The real fun is in the whole ambience that’s created as friends come together for flying kites. “We have something like a DJ while flying kites. One guy just sits on it and just plays some nice song numbers. There are always about ten to twelve friends around. We arrange all the sound gear on the terrace. We have great fun - dance, music and flying.” says Jaydeep. And of course, there’s the food. “Don’t forget it’s a harvest festival. The delicious garelu, burelu, bobbatlu, sunnundalu, murukulu, pulihaara – these are what make Sankranti special,” says Krishna Kishore, an employee of Brigade.

And after three days of flying, Kishore cuts the thread and lets go of his kite to symbolically let go of all that happened in the past year, both good and bad.

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