[Concorde]

Heard a case of a Kite (bird species) being injured because of this yesterday. Fortunately, a friend passed on a number of the Forest Department rescue centre. He seems to be doing well today. They say it's a regular affair and the count was close to 10 birds yesterday. All of us need to be more responsible and respectful towards Mother Earth, other species and each other.

[dZired]

I was about to start a thread on this topic to share my experience.

On 14th January, I was riding pillion with a friend on his newly acquired Pulsar. We both were wearing full face helmets and were driving at speed of around 40KMPH in Vaishali. We were about to reach our destination when a Manja got stuck in the collar of my friend's t-shirt and due to the speed of the bike it started rubbing against his neck. By the time we stopped, his neck had minor cuts. We were still standing there when something similar happened to a couple riding on an Activa, the boy braked hard as a result of which a Santro rear ended it and the couple fell and suffered multiple injuries.

All this chaos just to fly kites and enjoy a festival? As pointed by another member, there are no strict regulations in Jaipur on the type of Manja sold or used. The collector passed some guidelines this year that flying kites between 8 to 10 AM and 5 to 7 PM is a punishable offence as it is the time when most birds get injured. But according to my observation the sky was full with kites between 5 to 7 PM on 14th January and there was no action taken to ensure that the guidelines are followed.

Its high time people rethink the meaning of "Celebration" of Festivals.

[GrammarNazi]

BURN THEM. Kites are made of paper or plastic. Perfectly flammable.

On kite flying days, in kite flying residential areas - fire crackers that go up & burst. Light rockets. Tie sparklers to helium balloons and leave them in areas with dense kite flyer population.

Print pamphlets and leave a few wherever you strike. People NEED to be shaken HARD to make them understand.

Do whatever you can and if people get pi**ed off, don't even bother.

If you don't do it now, you'll do it after it scars you for life or seriously injures someone you love.

People are going to be indifferent because they're used to seeing such news every year.

Form awareness groups on Facebook - search and clamp-down shops that sell Chinese Manja. Report them to the police and ensure the manja is destroyed in front of you.

When people and businesses know such groups are growing, it'll scare them. People who're scarred and ones who've lost their near and dear ones are most likely to understand and support.

What's happening is NOT a celebration of flying kites - it's almost the celebration of MASS MURDER. AFAIK Every year in Gujarat alone 400 people die or are VERY seriously permanently scarred and injured due to this nonsense!

[apachelongbow]

Just heard news. A lady's neck got slit due to a glass manja on a kite flown by a kid from the slums. The lady (also from the slums) and her supporters caught the kid (only 9 years old) and thrashed him, breaking both his arms, in the melee someone also burnt the poor kid with cigarettes on his forehead and below his eyes!!! Both the lady and the child are in hospital and police are going to arrest the lady and her supporters soon!!
What can I say? Is flying a kite worth this?

[aniketi]

Its really bad, i know. In India, their is NO control at all on such things. A Manja can easily be a death trap for some people and thousands of poor little birds. Every year few people die due to this on the roads. I guess government should make it compulsory to fly kites only from tall buildings or from the open grounds only. Flying it on the road should be considered as a crime IMHO.

The only problem i see here is who will listen? There are so many laws for different things, but who cares. Overall people are very careless about others. We need a change. A big change. Change in our ATTITUDE is required, then only we will improve.

[avisidhu]

Pakistan has banned kite flying all together thanks to this menace. Maybe it's time some enlightened lawyers approach the supreme court for the same:

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Pakistan_bans_kite_flying

[a4anurag]

Day before when I was starting for work, after driving for 2 kms I was hearing a vague sound from the left side tyre like something is stuck.

Got down to check and to my surprise found 'manja' had got entangled in between the disc plate and the alloy wheel.

Removed the wheel and checked the brake pads, brake disc for any scratches etc. All was OK.

Anurag.

[dean5545]

Originally Posted by avisidhu

Pakistan has banned kite flying all together thanks to this menace. Maybe it's time some enlightened lawyers approach the supreme court for the same: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Pakistan_bans_kite_flying

Yeah seriously, if they can ban sun films to avoid rape they should ban flying kites too to avoid death and serious injuries to people as well as birds.

[ashphil]

Kite flying with manja included is a menace. I have been a victim of the same in Chennai more than 15 years ago as I rode over Kodambakkam bridge the manja thread cut my eyebrow and two fingers on my left hand as I tried to disengage the thread before it could damage my eye.
I was lucky that I got away with a few sutures. In recent years the Police have banned the use of manja and I believe that the menace is under some amount of control now. However it still exists.. I did not know that the kite flying crowd have kept abreast of modern technology by using 'Chinese Manja' and copper strings! I wish we could import tons of common sense and a commodity called social responsibility which could be distributed Free Of Cost to the kite flying public.
Regards,
Ashok

[dhondusaxena]

Manja on my Manza :(

I was driving with my family towards Kamla Nagar via ISBT bypass and suddenly a Manja got firmly stuck on the washer nozzles. It was a very busy stretch and hence drove for around five mins before stopping the car. It left couple of fine scratches on the A pillar paint.

[apachelongbow]

Three things we need to ban ASAP. 1) Kite flying using the traditional manja or the chinese plastic/metallic manja. 2) Loud crackers, bursting bombs and divali rockets. 3) Using chemical colors and rotten stuff as Holi colors and the water balloons, several people have lost their eyes to balloons thrown...

[voyageur]

IMHO, these kinds of practices needs to be stopped. The govt. is very inactive I would say. In concern of the public, they should be educating the society on the harms caused by manja. Also one query that is in my mind from my childhood is that, why can't manja be made of regular thread ? Even if the thread breaks it may not harm the birds or passers by as much as it does now. Just my query / suggestion.

My heart goes out to the victims. Unfortunately our society considers festivals and age old practices more important than people and their lives.

[joybird]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Three things we need to ban ASAP. 1) Kite flying using the traditional manja or the chinese plastic/metallic manja. 2) Loud crackers, bursting bombs and divali rockets. 3) Using chemical colors and rotten stuff as Holi colors and the water balloons, several people have lost their eyes to balloons thrown...

IMHO we need to create consciousness among people rather than expect government to ban practices which are harmful. For example the Chinese manja is banned in Amritsar but still available as some flyers will pay for the Chinese manja therefore enforcing a ban hasn't solved the problem.
People need to respect others and value their lives like they value own.
Ban something and it attracts attention. The human mind loves the word DON'T and everything connected to it.

[Sheel]

I was flung from a LML NV 150 in '01 in civil lines, Delhi.

Reason - A cable wire, not noticed at night got trapped in my neck area. Despite of passage of time, I still have scar marks (not very visible) in my neck area (lower right)

No fault of mine or any road user, but I paid a price and glad there were no cars on my back. An old man on a rickety scooter helped us, else everyone zoomed by.

[SankalpDesai]

While I completely sympathize with the thread opener (for the cause and not the utterly melodramatic style of writing) and numerous other folks who got 'nearly decapitated' or got their 'throats nearly slit' during their 'near death experience' this Makar Sankranti, and my sincerest condolences for the dead; I think this thread is utterly useless and not worthy of being present on this forum.

I'm sure all the highly educated and learned members of this esteemed forum would agree, that life in this country is not without surprises. These unexpected surprises can come to you in any form or shape, under any circumstances. Then why create a ruckus over a festival that is supposed to bring people closer and give them a chance to celebrate life? You cannot simply ignore not being a little cautious or worse, run away from responsibilities, and then shout from your roof-tops of putting a blanket ban on such celebrations.

Some folks here have been shedding tears for a wounded pigeon or a dead kite, but forget that either they themselves or several of their friends will today relish a chicken for lunch and would hog on a few more at dinner tonight. Let me enlighten you my friends that these ‘birds of food’ had a life too! No, I’m serious. They do have a life. Weren’t they hurt in the process while you celebrated an ‘event’ in life? Why not preach and practice absolute vegetarianism first and then seek a ban for kite-flying?

How about banning dahi-handi celebrations altogether? Don't they create chaos in almost every street of various cities in Western and Central India, with traffic jams that DO RESULT in deaths for the needy and an unaccountable wastage of natural resources, in terms of fuel being consumed while navigating the mess? Don't these 'functions' exploit women and promote gambling, under the pretext of competitions?

While some of us have been using our precious time penning down non-sense on this thread, sensationalizing an unavoidable damage during a very important celebration that matters for a few who care, there are other more sensible and alert citizens, who formed groups to help such birds and animals and humans in need. Next time, keep their numbers handy and be a little aware while you ride on your two-wheeler during Sankrant. And please, no more thread headings like 'Kite manja: The thin line of death'... Ekta Kapoor can do better than that.

Let’s get our acts together and talk about positive action, for a change.