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| 'Sky has limits now'-traditional kite flying loosing its sheen | | |
MISHU GUPTA
Jammu, Aug 1: Kites flying that once was the symbol of 'sky is no limit' but the traditional pastime associated with the festivity of the Rakhsa Bandhan and Shri Krishana Janamashtmi and Basant Panchmi now is losing its sheen in today's fast life.
Kite Flying mentioned as an age old tradition in many parts of India like Gujarat and in countries like Afghanistan and the United States but the practice is becoming gradually unpopular with time and is on the verge of fading away. Jammu City too is a witnessing this decline of the Kite Flying tradition in the past few years.
Pertinent to mention in Jammu city the two festivals Raksha Bandhan & Janamashtami have always been celebrated with flying kites and are known for Kite Flying but with the advancing years the trend has become a passé. With the emergence of computer era, the young generation seems to be more attracted on computer interaction and playing online games at the same time Gen X has become a bit of health cautious thus avoiding more exposure to sun and exerting the physical exercise associated with Kite flying for the whole day.
"A young boy would prefer to spend an hour in an air conditioned internet cafe instead of burning himself under the open sky " says Sanatan Sharma, who has a seasonal Kite manufacturing business and is in the trade for the last more than 20 years.
Reasoning other factors related to the decline of old age tradition, he points that government has imposed duty in the form of VAT on raw material to add to the woes of the kite makers instead of encouraging this fast declining business. "Earlier kite paper and bamboo sticks used to be tax free. Then a Value Added Tax (VAT) at the rate of 4% was levied which has been now increased to 8% whereas there is no such tax on these raw items in the rest of India" laments Sanatan.
In Pacca Danga alone there are more than 30 kite makers within a radius of 100 meters who are manufacturing kites and strings on seasonal basis as the demand is only for a short period of fifteen days from Raksha Bandhan to Janamashtmi. The season of making kites starts by the end of May and lasts till August by hiring skilled labour. The labourers migrate from Punjab for three months and at an average a labourer earns Rs.200/- per day after working for more than 10 hours a day. There has been an effort on the part of the Government to protect the rights of the migratory workers like these working in the unorganized sector.
Rahul Baba, a Kite Maker from Kathua has an extended season of kite manufacturing. "After making kites for three months in Jammu where I have rented three shops this season I shifted my business to my home town for the next three months where the season begins in September every year." says Rahul.
Other kite makers who claim to have invested over Rs.10 Lakh in the business this season are hopeful of earning a profit of Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 Lakh from the wholesale business if it ends well.
However this year kite makers have a sigh of relief because of the scant rainfall this year saying the rains usually in past years on the festive occasions have caused huge loss to this trade.
The traders associated with the Kite trading also lament that young generation is not interested in flying kites as either it is obsessed with technology or overburdened with studies.
But still there are few for whom kite flying yet is a pleasure over video games and internet. "I come every year to fly kites particularly on the festivals like Raksha Bandhan. It is like a passion", says Sweesh Tandon a engineering student.
He however adds kite flying festivals should be organized on these occasion to promote not only a small industry linked with the kite flying but also to extend a helping hand to generation of artisans who earn their livelihood by making kites of different kinds showing their professionalism and skill.
He underlines that government needs to come forward to save this small scale industry that feeds a hundreds of people connected with this special trade known for occasions
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