men as boys

Kite catchers at sunset

ready for take off

Kites Over the Ganga

Yesterday the sky was filled with kites. On every roof top and along the ghats boys of l ages were competing to be the best kite flyer. It was so beautiful to watch all colours of 3 rupees paper kites f twist, swoop and chase each other as their owners tries to cut the strings of each other’s kites. At times, in the distance it was hard to make out the birds from the kite and I am sure some birds must have been caught up in so many strings. When a kite string was cut the younger kids, or maybe the kids who could not afford their own kite, would run after the falling kite and have their own competition to see who could collect the most kites. I spent the afternoon on the roof of Rajesh’s family home where the neighbour kids were all on their roof competing with each other. The funniest part of the day was watching fully grown men revert into boys. They bosted about how back in the day they were champions and were just chomping at the bit to get a turn of the kite from their kids. One of the guys managed to cut the strings of 16 kites before his kite string was cut. 16 kites!  Wow that was some record. All the men were laughing and jumping around slapping him on the back as if he had just won the Grand Prix. In the evening I strolled along the ghats, kids and kites everywhere and as the tourists walked they were getting caught up in the broken strings that lay strewn among the cow dung. On some of the small row boats dads with their kids were also flying kites or chasing the falling ones.  Just a great afternoon.