Young boys and men throw their simple paper and bamboo kites high above their heads to catch a gust of wind. The winning gust takes their kite on a one kilometer journey into the sky. It is a challenge getting it to catch onto that one breath of air that will take it soaring, and remnants of kites – in the powerlines, on roof tops, on barbed wire security fences are testimony to their failed attempts.
Bassant, the annual March kite-flying festival will have this sky full of kites. But there is one catch to this pagan festival. The challenge is to bring another’s kite down. By adding fine shards of glass to the kite’s string, competitors aim to gently saw away at their combatant’s line. With the last kite flying deemed the winner.
Only in recent times has it become so competitive that kites strings are made of a more sold material. Cables, polyester and even wire instead of the simple cotton twine of yesterday. This is banned, of course, as the lost kite ends become detrimental for motorcyclists and others on the paths, roads and other thoroughfares in the city.
But for now, non-competitive kiteflyers punctuate Rawalpindi’s rooftops and kites dot the sky, while a lone eagle circles us up above.
