Passion for flying kites soars on I-Day

Arbaaz, 6, had been running around the lanes of Chawri Bazaar since seven in the morning. The goal of his frantic activity was to collect as many kites as possible. Evey time he heard ‘Aibo’ from a terrace, he ran in that direction without wasting a second.

All his hard work did bear fruit. By late afternoon, the enthusiastic child had managed to collect nine kites — 6 purple, 2 green, and one special Tricolour kite. In fact, he had been collecting kites for a few days to ensure he had enough for the Independence Day special kite-flying competition.

And Arbaaz is not the only one taken up by the flying frenzy. The sky above the narrow lanes of ‘Purani Dilli’ was littered with colorful kites on Tuesday. With the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid in the background, the ‘Patangbaaz’ of kite-flyers let their passions soar. Kite-flying parties were organised on almost every terrace, with entire clans cheering for their contestant.

With cheerful Bollywood songs providing background music for all this excitement, the Walled City came truly alive for its favourite festival.

“My children have been making me run to shops every other day for the last one month, to stock up their kites and manjha (thread) rolls,” said Akhlaq, local restaurant owner in Matiya Mahal of Chandni Chowk. “We are making sure we stay away from Chinese thread this time as it injures birds,” he added.

Not just kite shops, but food shops in the area, too, were ready with their traditional dishes, made available the entire day. The festivities proved that the Delhiites’ love for kite festival is not going to die any time soon.