Have you ever seen a kite fight?

Mumbai’s skies, earlier this week saw many kite fights.

On the 15th we celebrated the festival of Sankranthi, a day which marks the beginning of the northward movement of the sun. This is one of the few Hindu festivals determined by the Solar calendar rather than the Lunar one.

At this time of year with the winter at its peak, people get together in open spaces or like in my city of Mumbai on top of terrace rooftops. They enjoy soaking in the mild sun, munching on sesame seed and jaggery sweets and of course flying kites

The kites are handmade and the string used is special . This string called ‘manja‘  is rolled around a wooden reel. Don’t get fooled by its thinness. It is actually a cotton thread stiffened and fortified with a powdered glass coating. This makes the string sharp enough to cut down another kite that is flying above. It has also claimed the lives of innocent people standing by who can’t see it darting dangerously low to ground.

Sharing this with other skywatchers on #SkywatchFriday

Ciao,

See you next week,