Kite fight champions await annual contest in Pink City, rue neglect to sport

Jaipur, Jan 11 (PTI) All but disappeared from the city skies, kites still live strong among a cabal of longstanding enthusiasts in Jaipur.

Kite contests, held ahead of Makar Sankranti on January 14 in the Pink City, occasion a passion that can only be rivalled by an India-Pak cricket match.

Once a source of pride and identity for the state capital, such aerial combats today live on passion alone, with no state patronage, lament the kite club members.

All the same, the lack of support has not deterred the exponents of the niche art -- a flyer's skill of sending a kite to dart and drop, ascend lordly, or remain poised in solemn wobble against the wind.

Ashok Vaishnav of the Pink City Kite Club Flying Association explained the rules of the game.

He told PTI that kite-flying competitions involve four players in a team – three active competitors and one extra player.

"Like cricket, there are three umpires. Two remain on the pitch, while one stands in the middle of the ground and closely watches the kite duels to make decisions," he said.

Fliers fight their kites from a fixed pitch measuring 15 feet in length and 10 feet in width.

"Before the contest begins, a toss is held. The winner decides whether to fight the kite string from above or below, just as in cricket," Vaishnav said.

According to him, umpires check the size of the kites before the match. Each team has to fight nine 'pech' (string duels), with 15 minutes allotted for each. "If a player's kite is cut, he loses. If neither kite is cut within the time, both players are out," he said.

Kite flyer Govind Jangid said Jaipur has around 70-80 kite clubs and hundreds of competitive kite fighters. "A local-level tournament costs around Rs 3-4 lakh to organise, while an all-India competition can cost up to Rs 10 lakh," he said.

Despite bringing the city laurels, the sport and its players feel neglected, and blame it on cricket, which gets all the limelight, sponsorship, and funds.

No dedicated venue to hold matches also chafes them.

Some kite club members said tournaments were earlier held at the Jal Mahal embankment and later at Mali Ki Kothi on Agra Road.

"For several years, we have been requesting the state government to allot a place for competitions, but no one has paid attention … Associations collect funds on their own to organise tournaments," said a member.

The passion for kites runs deep in the city, with many enthusiasts preserving kites for decades, treating them as prized possessions.

Raju Sardar, 64, who runs the Golden Kite Club, said he has been flying kites for 40 years and still owns kites that are nearly 60 years old.

"They are my property. I take care of them like children. Twice a year, I take them out of their boxes and dry them in the sun so they don't get damaged," he said.

Former police officer Kamal Singh Chauhan, 70, rued that the craft that went into making the finest of kites has been lost to time.

"I have been into kite flying for 40 years and still have kites that old. I have preserved them because they were made by craftsmen who no longer exist. These kites remind me of them," he said.

Azhar Hussain of the Abdulla Kite Club in Bans Badanpura has been flying kites since 1998. "I practise throughout the year and also take part in competitions outside the state. I, too, have kites that are about 45 years old," he said.

At 93, Ahsan Haji, who runs the Steel Guide Club in Punjabi Colony, is one of the oldest and most passionate kite flyers in the city.

"Wherever there is a kite-flying competition, I go," he said. Flying kites since 1961, his enthusiasm shows no sign of fading. PTI AG VN VN