Go Fly a Kite : In the Skies Over Old Delhi the Annual Warfare Begins

In the fading afternoon light, before evening prayers begin at the Great Mosque in the Walled City, the druggist and the silversmith and the man who makes envelopes out of old newspapers come to a place by the Jamuna River to fight.

They fight with kites, and they take it seriously.

“One should have the heart,” Mohammed Afaq, the druggist, said not long ago. “Money is not necessary.”

Deft Footwork Seen

Afaq, 60, is one of the all-time champion kite fighters of Old Delhi, the ancient part of the Indian capital. He defeats his rivals with deft wrist movements and agile footwork.

His kite is made of rice paper stretched over ribs of fine, aged bamboo. He maneuvers it into position, then neatly severs the string on his opponent’s kite. The upper part of a fighting kite’s string, the manja , is coated with finely ground glass.

Two of Afaq’s sons are also champions, holders of the Nausherwan Award for defeating nine other kites in a single challenge. So is one of his grandsons. All are part of a 400-year-old tradition of kite fighting in northern India.

Popular Indian Pastime

In Delhi alone there are 45 kite-fighting clubs but kites are loved all over India. At two or three rupees each (about 15 cents), they are within reach of even the poorest Indian.

The kite season begins after the end of the monsoon rains in late August. From September until March, when the hot winds blow across the Deccan plateau, the Indian skies are filled with darting, swooping kites, some of them decorated with brightly colored pictures.

In southern India, kites tend to be more ornamental and festive. In Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat state, there is an annual kite festival that has taken on Hindu religious significance. The people buy kites to fly and some status-seekers even hire others to fly a kite in their name. At sunset the kites are taken to the Subaramati River and ceremoniously immersed.

Serious Undertaking

Kite flying in northern India is a more serious business, particularly in the Muslim areas of Delhi, near the Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque).

In Lucknow and Bareilly, two cities in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, an estimated 15,000 craftsmen are employed making kites. A true aficionado can tell whether a kite is a 10-year-old Lucknow, with Kashmiri bamboo, or a new Bareilly made with imported paper.

The Indian kite fighter’s skill is awesome to an American who regards kite flying as a lot of desperate running followed by a monotonous period of watching it in the air, with little or no control over where it goes.

In the proper hands, an Indian kite can be sent aloft on the barest breath of wind with a mere flick of the wrist. The fighter’s control of his kite is so complete that he can direct it to a severed kite, catch it in his string and draw it back to Earth.

Flying in the Dark

Some fighters can fly in the dark, judging by the feel of the string, like a blind fisherman, when they have encountered the string of another night flyer.

A popular place for the duels is along the banks of the Jamuna River near the old Red Fort, home of the 17th-Century Mogul emperors. The spot is near the cremation grounds and memorials for Indian prime ministers and of independence leader Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi.

As a result, there has been some fear among the kite enthusiasts that the government would expropriate their field as a future cremation ghat for another Indian leader. However, because the mosque is nearby and because Muslims bury their dead and abhor cremation, it is unlikely that the land would be used for Hindu rites.

A Somber Affair

Formal kite fighting can be a somber affair. And Afaq the druggist said, “We maintain complete silence while indulging.”

But often Afaq’s kite-flying activities are interrupted by customers with a prescription to be filled.

“Mix one gram black chili with three grams sugar and 100 grams butter,” he told one man who has come to the fighting place complaining of a headache.

Mohammed Yamin, 66, the man who makes his living turning old newspapers into envelopes, contends that kite fighting itself has certain therapeutic powers. Yamin is president of the Shahan Shahi Kite Club and a former champion. His fingers are lumped and ridged with callouses and grooves from the kite string.

‘Diet for the Brain’

Kite fighting sometimes takes place at the end of a mile of string, creating great tension on the strings, and novices have difficulty dealing with the heat and friction caused by the string’s rapid movement.

“This is a diet for the brain,” Yamin said. He had just dispatched a young opponent’s kite with ease and was watching it drift to Earth across the river.

In kite fighting, the results are certain and undeniable, for the winner’s kite remains aloft, firmly tethered to the fighter’s spindle. The contests usually last only a few minutes.

“Every kind of worry, every kind of tension I have, I forget here,” Yamin said, quietly relishing his victory and slowly drawing in his string as the call to prayer was sounded at the mosque.