Kite Flying- A true sport

Sport has been an integral part of my life and particularly my childhood and school days were overwhelmingly influenced by this vocation.

Whether it was sheer talent or simple instinctive behaviour of a child, I picked up most sports rather easily. Cricket, hockey, football, table tennis , badminton etc. used to be the favourites in those times. However there was one more sport, which fascinated me, Kite Flying.

Seeing the kite  soar into the sky in the direction of the wind  and experiencing the mild tremors on my fingers holding the string, gave me a tremendous sense of joy. The deft manoeuvres, quick responses and the subtle nuances of fights between kites in mid air, kept my adrenaline pumping, and as was the case with other sports, I picked up kite flying too, in no time. The sport too had a spate of emotions from heartbreak on losing a kite to unprecedented satisfaction on winning a battle in the air.

But there was a difference, which I slowly realised.  Kite flying was not an organised sport. It didn’t have any documented rules and no time frames. It was more of folklore and played its role beautifully during festivals, but never got its due as a daily sporting activity. Infact, as we progressed, Kite Flying  became more and more limited to old  localities in big cities and even came to be considered as one of the favourite pastimes  of the less privileged. Even parents hesitated in letting their children indulge in Kite Flying  on a regular basis, as if there was something not good about the sport.

But a sport is a sport and Kite Flying  too has several benefits which arise from any other sporting activity. It’s a good exercise of the neck muscle, shoulders, arms, legs, eyes and more importantly, it helps improve hand-eye coordination and concentration levels, as other sports do. It also brings about the ability to compete. So why differentiate. There is also employment linked to kite flying, which is shrinking by the day as the exponents of this sport begin to dwindle. Unfortunately I fear, there may be a time, when my generation is gone, Kite Flying as a sport would have receded into oblivion.

Let’s allow our children to learn this sport and experience the joy associated with it, as I still do.

Let our children fly…even Kites.