Go fly a kite!

By K.K. Khullar

If monsoon comes, can patangs be far behind? Patangbazi in Delhi is not a mere sport, it is an entire culture. Some social historians trace its origin to the Mughal days but in reality, it dates back to the days of Mahabharata.

Very few people know that the word Patang is not an Urdu word as is generally misunderstood. It is a Sanskrit word which means flying. It was not only used in receiving messages but also measuring distances in war times. A bird used to fly along with the kite. Alexander used the kite enormously for his purposes although it was ultimately the kite which defeated him.

In many Rajasthani miniatures, Lord Krishna is depicted as flying the kite while gopis give him the string. The ancient Chinese also knew kite-flying but their kites were different and so was their flying. The Chinese kites resembled animals such as snakes, crocodiles and fish and their flying resembled not aeroplanes but mosquitoes and flies. The Chinese kites flew very close to life. They also flew quite close to death. The ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese Calendar is still called the Kite Flying Day. Fa-hien and Hieun Tsang, the two great Chinese pilgrims flew kites at Nalanda and Taxila much to the amazement of Indian audiences. Legend has it that the Sakyamuni, the Gautama himself flew kites during his princely days.

In Malaysia, kite flying is a big festival. In fact it is their major national festival.A few years ago when I visited that country the kite which made a mark was as weighty as 7 kg and as long as 238 metres because 238 metres of cloth had been used while making it. It had all the colours of a prism. Interestingly, unlike the Indian patang it does not have the tail. Similar was the case in South Korea, which has the credit of inventing musical kites. A musical kite is different from the musical chair. The Japanese kite combines the humanism of Japanese arts and the rationalism of Japanese sciences. It can be called a doll-kite and there are several varieties of doll-kites: the singing kite, the weeping kite, the sobbing kite and the laughing kite.

In Delhi the Punjabis call the patang, a Guddi. It flies throughout the year but it distinguishes itself on Makar Sankranti, Raksha bandhan, Janamsshtmi, Independence Day and Basant Panchami. However there is no hard and fast rule, the Patang i.e in Delhi can be flown any time throughout the year. It is a festival for all times — a fun forever.

Citizens of Delhi fly their kites not only from the roofs of their houses, like the people of Lahore and Gujranwala in pre-Partition Punjab, but also from open spaces like Ramlila grounds in Delhi, Rajghat, Qudsia Garden or any Idgah. In the Mughal days the venue of kite-flying was Salimgarh, off the Red Fort. Princes and princesses participated in the fun, shoulder to shoulder with the commoners. In fact it was the only occasion in public when the ordinary and the extra-ordinary mixed and mingled with each with an abandon unknown at other occasions.

The Delhi citizens had given a name to every different kite: Elfin Bagla, Gilzaman or more appropriately Gulzaman, Lucknow Kat, Dal Pari, Tara, Laila, Angara, among the females. As for the male kites, there were Gulfam, Majnu, Farhad, Mahiwal and Punnu. Urdu and Persian verses were often inscribed on the patangs as tokens for the beloved on whose roof the kite kept flying till the message was received.

Mirza Ghaib flew kites in Delhi during his youth from the roofs of several houses he lived in. But from Ballimaran where he lived long he flew some memorable kites celebrated in his poems which are recited by the kite lovers till today. In one of his verses he says: Ek din masal-e-patang kaghzi, ley ke dil sar-i-rishta-e-azadgi (one day a patang made of paper took my heart away by its sheer freedom of flight).

Then there were kite-flying competitions which attracted large crowds. They still attract large crowds on Rakshabandhan and other occasions. Expert kite-fliers still fly five kites at a time with rolls of strings with their five fingers with a finesse and dexterity that is really amazing. Like the Delhi and Lucknow schools of Urdu poetry, there were also Delhi and Lucknow schools of patangbazi. Each school flourished under an ustad such as Mirza Chappati of Delhi and Mir Konkita of Lucknow. Patang laureates (akin to poet laureates) were honoured not only on the sands of Jamuna but also in the Diwan-e-Aam and Diwan-e-Khas of the Red Fort. In post-Independence India it is rather sad that no patangbaz has been awarded any state award. Patangbazi has contributed to the composite culture of India. It has also promoted national integration. It is a part of Ganga-Jamni ‘Tehzib’. Making a kite is an art. Flying a kite is a fine art. According to Delhi proverb the best kite fliers are those who are also the kite makers. And indeed the kite-breakers.