Kite running
Chasing cut kites as prizes after kite fights.
Kite running is the practice of chasing drifting kites that have been cut loose during kite fighting. The person who captures a cut kite is typically allowed to keep it, making larger and more expensive-looking kites attract more runners. This custom is especially common in cities and towns where the prospect of a free prize draws many participants.
Quick Facts
- Ban on glass-coated strings
- Mumbai, December 14, 2016
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Kite fighting is popular in the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, Iran, Chile, Brazil, and many other places.
- In most kite fighting, the string is coated with powdered glass to cut opponents' strings.
- Kite running appears in the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, where scars from manja are described as trophies.
Running
When a kite string is cut, the kite drifts with the wind until it lands. Kite runners pursue these kites to capture them as they descend, often using poles or broken tree branches to entangle the trailing string. The chase can be complicated when kites travel long distances or land on trees, electric poles, houses behind walls, or across busy roads and railway lines. People of all ages may join the pursuit.
Dangers
Kite runners face serious risks, including running into traffic or trains while looking upward, and falling from trees or buildings they climb to reach kites. They may walk through congested areas unaware of ground-level hazards, leading to collisions and injuries. Glass-coated kite strings can injure people, birds, or damage electricity cables; throat injuries in children during the Makar Sankranti festival led to a ban on such strings in Mumbai.
More in Kites
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced