NO kite flying in Punjab!

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

How can Basant be scheduled in advance to be a day with good wind? Or is it windy every day in Lahore around the time of Basant? Does the amount of wind affect the danger? I would think if the wind is light, then the strings wouldn't be as taut and able to slice so much. Anyway, here in Virginia we would schedule a kite flying event for early march, but one could not be sure that on the day that was picked the wind would be good. This love of combative kite flying is depicted in the the novel "The Kite Runner", by Khaled Hosseini set in Kabul.

No its not always windy in Lahore and people use to fly huge kits even in very poor wind .. But in Karachi , its very windy , i have cut my own fingers so many times as sometimes the wind is so fast that , it becomes very hard to control the kite maneuvers . In lahore thers comparitively very low wind intensity , and i consider it as a great feat to fly a kite in such a low wind .


Yup i have seen a movie based on that novel .. nice one . But the way those competitions are done in Pakistan , its no where near to it ..!

 

[Veer]

A good decision taken by the court. The ban is imposed because the chemicals mixed with glass and metal string used for flying kites have killed hunderds of people spcially childern.

Despite warnings the sale of such strings have not been stopped by greedy traders hence the ban came for the last two or so years.

If the problem is "chemicals mixed with glass and metal string" then why ban flying kites.

They should ban string not kite flying.

Several children have died because of Chinese melamine milk in many countries but the Chinese milk is banned not the "DRINKING MILK".

I think the ban on kites have to do with radicals who says it as Hindu tradition.

 

[Spring Onion]

If the problem is "chemicals mixed with glass and metal string" then why ban flying kites.

They should ban string not kite flying.

Several children have died because of Chinese melamine milk in many countries but the Chinese milk is banned not the "DRINKING MILK".

I think the ban on kites have to do with radicals who says it as Hindu tradition.

The government had put ban on use of metal strings but to no avail.

The ban this time came from the Court and its a good decision.

A case was registerd after hundreds of deaths due to sharp strings. You dont know the level of danger to lives due to this useless festival of kite flying.

The tradition of argument which you had raised has nothing to do with the ban because you can have Basant in private hotels or own place without endangering the lives of people.

Period

 

[Awesome]

How can Basant be scheduled in advance to be a day with good wind?

Weather forecasts... Haha, there have been years where they made a bad call and it wasn't windy. The Lahoris can fly kites even on a low wind day. There are techniques called the "Tunka" (sudden jerks) and "Haath pherna" (big heaved pulling on the string) which allow for a different sort of fun with kites, but its not for the novice. Some of these years the Lahoris have done a do over with regards to Basant.

Basant is a season, not a day, however they dedicate one sunday so that the entire city prepares for it.

Does the amount of wind affect the danger?

It would to some extent, but most fatal accidents don't happen with "live" kites, its mostly when they are cut off from their strings, the loose string becomes dangerous depending upon how one gets entangled with it.

I would think if the wind is light, then the strings wouldn't be as taut and able to slice so much. Anyway, here in Virginia we would schedule a kite flying event for early march, but one could not be sure that on the day that was picked the wind would be good. This love of combative kite flying is depicted in the the novel "The Kite Runner", by Khaled Hosseini set in Kabul.

There is a town in Virginia called, Lahore. I think they did one or two Basant events there for the heck of it. Other than that, I think University of Viriginia or George Mason has a Pakistani club that organizes a "Kite Festival" in around this time. Check it out, its mostly a fun day.

Kite flying is a two man team sport. One guy does the kite flying the other one needs to hold the string, holding the string is an art too, the string should be released free flowingly during a kite duel (which can go one for several kilometers).

In most of Pakistan, kites of all types are simply called Patung, but in Lahore they have a name for everything

The two most basic shapes are show here:

The ones on top are called Patung (just like in Urdu) and the ones below are the Gudda.

The Patung is for conventional duels while the Gudda is more maneuverable and allows for many more tricks


The string, in Urdu - Manja and in Lahori terms, the door (pronounced like the English word door).

 

[Awesome]

The government had put ban on use of metal strings but to no avail.

The ban this time came from the Court and its a good decision.

A case was registerd after hundreds of deaths due to sharp strings. You dont know the level of danger to lives due to this useless festival of kite flying.

The tradition of argument which you had raised has nothing to do with the ban because you can have Basant in private hotels or own place without endangering the lives of people.

Period

The Dubai government realized some 10 years back that the Lahoris aren't going to give up on Basant, no matter what. They now officially dedicate a Basant day and provide large grounds in the outskirts of the city for everyone to duke it out.

It's high time the Lahore government followed suit as well.

 

[Veer]

The Dubai government realized some 10 years back that the Lahoris aren't going to give up on Basant, no matter what. They now officially dedicate a Basant day and provide large grounds in the outskirts of the city for everyone to duke it out.

It's high time the Lahore government followed suit as well.

Yes, i fully agree with Asim.

The death due to glass string is also happen in India. And as all knows our population, in India the more people fly kites.

You can't take freedom from people and interfere in their private life.

 

[Awesome]

Yes, i fully agree with Asim.

The death due to glass string is also happen in India. And as all knows our population, in India the more people fly kites.

You can't take freedom from people and interfere in their private life.

With all due respect, the Lahore case is understandable, given the almost certainty of death. It is not right, since its an impediment of one's freedom but its definitely understandable.

 

[Spring Onion]

The Dubai government realized some 10 years back that the Lahoris aren't going to give up on Basant, no matter what. They now officially dedicate a Basant day and provide large grounds in the outskirts of the city for everyone to duke it out.

It's high time the Lahore government followed suit as well.

That could be one option to allow it in big grounds away from population. But we all know that in Lahore we see much of the activity in congested old city where there are narrow streets and people do kite flying on roof tops.

On the other hand it had been arranged in hotels specialy PC had been holding the festival but only elites can afford that.

 

[SSGPA1]

It starts at night, every household gets floodlights and beams it into the sky and everyone uses white kites for the night time, there's a lot of partying, Dhol, Haleem and Kashmiri Chai. Then in the day Basant kicks into high gear with at least twice as many kites, somepeople get fancy kites, some people get Big kites, the ladies dress in Yellow. Its a fun day for most.

Now I know why Pervaiz Ashraf was made the minister so that an unofficial ban is imposed in the night time. See, no power means no floodlights

On a serious note, resources should be allocated to stop the sale of dangerous threads instead of ban on kite flying. A lot of households depend on income from Basant.

 

[Awesome]

That could be one option to allow it in big grounds away from population. But we all know that in Lahore we see much of the activity in congested old city where there are narrow streets and people do kite flying on roof tops.

On the other hand it had been arranged in hotels specialy PC had been holding the festival but only elites can afford that.

I once celebrated basant in the old towns. Its a totally different ball game altogether. The "pecha" starts within a minute...

In that regards open grounds are a lot more fun, you can at least fly for 5 mins, spot a kite that you'd want to engage and then go in for the kill.

About PC, well how many people can afford it? And what about the luteray concept. Half the fun is in catch loose kites. "Pakro pakro pakro".

 

[SMC]

I noticed how strong Lahore "Manjha" is when I went to Lahore. Normally in Karachi, I could break it with my hands (left some marks on my hands but did the job). In Lahore I wasn't able to break it at all. And it had a much higher radius then its Karachi counterparts. That's why we didn't see any deaths in Karachi.

In Karachi I normally flew from my roof but there were big cricket playgrounds near my home that we often used when it was not being used.

 

[T-Faz]

Basant is being celebrated as usual and firing, deaths, cut electric wires are being reported. It is alot of fun to be in Lahore during these times.

 

[SSGPA1]

Here is how Shahbaz Sharif will arrest Taseer for kite flying: