[Thad E Ginathom]

Then why create a ruckus over a festival that is supposed to bring people closer and give them a chance to celebrate life?

Because it kills and injures people. The thread and the heading are entirely apt. And it is very useful to see real-life personal accounts here, instead of just reading the newspaper items.

I'm amazed by your post. And, no, I don't much like being amazed in this way.

You don't think people can come together, enjoy life and have fun without causing such risk to others? Think again!

Yes, lets have lots of such threads that make people think about what they didn't think about yesterday. That's the route to understanding that seat belts are a necessary, that drink+driving is irresponsible and stupid, and many other things about which, year by year, society slowly gets educated. We, year by year, slowly get educated.

But nobody gets educated if they won't listen, or if they are convinced that a bit of fun is more valuable than safety and life.




~

[S_U_N]

I have been an avid kite flyer since school days. Unfortunately, last ten years have been quite opposite for me - hardly had a chance to fly kites a few times.

To me, it gives great joy to see the kites go up in the air, but not at the cost of causing trouble to anyone - human or bird.

The risk that we are referring to is present in those places where kite flying is common. States which come to my mind are Gujarat, Delhi, UP and Rajasthan. Some parts of Maharashtra (e.g. Mumbai - pre-dominantly Kandivali, Girgaum, and few more.)

But most parts of the country will not have this risk. In Pune, in the last five years, I have seen not more than 5 kites flying in the air, though there are shops selling those.

During the kite season (around 14 January), it helps if everyone is cautious of their surroundings. The 'manja' has glass in it and it can cut anything where it passes with speed - that was the intention of adding the glass.
The nylon version (referred to as Chinese manja) has great elasticity and quite near unbreakable. That is a bigger risk. Fortunately this is banned in some states like Gujarat. There are incidents where police has come and confiscated the thread (and perhaps punished the folks using it).
Of course, enforcing a ban is harder done than said in our country.

[raghu.t.k]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

.....
; 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.

.....

I am really not sure if this sarcasm or sheer insensitivity.

While not denying that festivities do bring people together, they should not be at the cost of others.

I am not sure how you can be cautious other than wearing body armor which covers the whole body including neck and hands or always travelling in metal cocoon aka the car. Even pedestrians can be injured by these threads if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The thread is nearly invisible and seriously "cutting edge", and many a times you first feel it before seeing it, and by then the damage is already done. These are not exaggerated third party accounts, but incidents where our the members have been the victim.

While a vegetarian, myself, lets not dilute this thread on debate on non-vegetarian food. You are free to start a thread , if we need to debate that.

Hope you get the seriousness, if not written in sarcasm.

[JLS]

I have been flying kites since child hood and am avid fan. I await 14th January every year eagerly!

My few observations with respect to the situation in Ahmedabad are:
- Earlier when kite flying was at peak ( now people do not fly kites with the same enthusiasm like earlier) and kite/manja density in air ( for sake of better word) was higher than in current time, incidents relating to personal injuries due to thread/manja were much less. Many more incidents used to be reported for people getting injured /dying falling from roof (particularly in walled city)
- Since last few years, in new localities (particularly in flats in suburbs) there is a norm of selling the roof top rights to the top floor owners in flats and in due course majority of residents do not have a place to fly kites from, and hence many people fly kites from grounds / near to the roads. This causes more incidents of thread of cut kite falling on road and injuring people (particularly two wheeler riders).
- Also nylon manja has increased the risk

I believe this menace has to be addressed by some restraint from kite flyers( like not pulling the thread strongly if it is struck somewhere , not using nylon thread etc) and more awareness from road users (on how to avoid this danger and react to the threat - like using more protective cloths etc).

I am not in favour of dramatizing by calling it as a line of death etc.
Almost all festivals and how we celebrate can be criticized in a sensational and dramatic manner, for e.g Diwali (risks of fire due to crackers), Holi ( wastage of water, injuries due to water balloons and so on).
However, rather than taking moral high ground, spreading awareness on how a festival can be celebrated without least disturbance and danger to other people/living spices and environment would be a balanced approach.

Regards,
JLS

[Dieseldunk]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

Then why create a ruckus over a festival that is supposed to bring people closer and give them a chance to celebrate life? 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.

We do see some positive initiatives buddy.
A festival is meant for joys to everyone and not to be deprived directly to someone. Will you be happy to be a victim and write the same lines you have mentioned above. Probably not. Are you willing to get your car/bike replaced probably yes.

Are you willing to try to replace human body parts (not everyone is as Lucky as Lord Ganesh and that is why he is Supreme).
My friend it is easy to write to sound different but then practicing the same becomes very much difficult. This forum is meant to share information (sensitive ones with lot of sensible approach) and professionally view incidents/accidents. If one is not happy then best approach is to refrain from commenting on that thread. Channelize your thoughts on to some other thread.

Btw the reason you wrote on this thread would be because of the phrasing of the thread -

Cheers

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted 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.

Are you actually so insensitive and callous or you have written in this style to gain some response?
Your remark has prompted me to say, god forbid if you even receive a slash due to a kite manja, will you sing the same tune as above? And if you truly believe that we continue to behave in a irresponsible manner just to continue so called 'traditions' than we have just stopped being a civilized nation!!!
Since this country is filled with surprises (as you said above) maybe we should even remove all kinds of rules and regulations, allow people to do as they wish, after all it will increase the 'surprise quotient' and make life more colorful?

[raghu.t.k]

Originally Posted by JLS

I have been flying kites since child hood and am avid fan. I await 14th January every year eagerly!

.....
.....

I believe this menace has to be addressed by some restraint from kite flyers( like not pulling the thread strongly if it is struck somewhere , not using nylon thread etc) and more awareness from road users (on how to avoid this danger and react to the threat - like using more protective cloths etc).

I am not in favour of dramatizing by calling it as a line of death etc.
Almost all festivals and how we celebrate can be criticized in a sensational and dramatic manner, for e.g Diwali (risks of fire due to crackers), Holi ( wastage of water, injuries due to water balloons and so on).
However, rather than taking moral high ground, spreading awareness on how a festival can be celebrated without least disturbance and danger to other people/living spices and environment would be a balanced approach.

Regards,
JLS

@ JLS : I am not sure how one wears protective cloths, since it can maim or kill depending the area it cuts, and the regular textiles don't provide any protection? I don't know the Kite scene there, but in Chennai this could be any thickly populated area. The risk can be on the road, or your even own the terrace. Any festivities that can maim or kill should be definitely controlled. I don't think anyone enjoying any festivities should be threat to life or limb. With a bit of extended imagination, why should we curb drunken driving, we could advise other road users to be a bit more cautious.

I don't think its possible to ban this, given the size of our country, density in many locations, the lack of will and corruption rampant in the legislative and executive wings. But that does not reduce the threat or need for educating the young minds on the risk to their and others life and limbs.

With regards to the dramatization of the title, it depends on if you have been affected in any way!!

[Thad E Ginathom]

With regards to the dramatization of the title...

Well, of course we do not see headlines like "Man Mildly Scratched By Kite String." Which is why it is revealing to read of personal experiences here; experiences that might, if they had been worse, have made headlines.

I think that controls have been effective in this city. My wife, who has lived her life here, tells me that it used to be more common, and that her now-grown son used to cut his hands making his own manja. Still, I recall at least one loss of life in a year or so of newspapers.

Back in my boating days I got a fishing line against my neck. No instant cut, of course, but the thought that a hook would soon be there gave me some very uncomfortable moments before I managed to flick it away.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

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?


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

Lovely, I don't think there is anywhere in developed world where you can hold traffic and commuters to ransom as it happens during dahi handi and ganesh visarjan!

And also the noisy and disturbing processions which are lovingly called "Baaraats" ...

[SankalpDesai]

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[Thad E Ginathom]

Hatred? racism? Soon we have offending sentiments and other legal objections to free speech.

There is not one single argument in your post that makes a genuine point in favour of something that is an entirely optional pass-time that is known to be extremely dangerous.

You want to fly kites? Easy compromise: leave out the manja. Kite flying is popular worldwide and rightly so. It does not have to be a potentially deadly pursuit, does it?

Don't ban kites. Sure, don't ban kites. Fly kites in sensible, responsible ways and situations. Many people find that perfectly possible: it gives pleasure to millions, and seldom kills or injures anyone.

[naveenroy]

Well, I think I know where this thread is going now. As all Twitter battles these days in India go - left or right if you know what I mean.

But let's not let it go that way. I think this forum is more mature than that! Yes, festivals and loud expressions of the festivities are great. But not at the cost of someone else's freedom. As much as it is freedom for someone to celebrate - it is the the freedom of the other person not to celebrate. As someone said - "Your freedom ends where my freedom begins". And no one is against kite flying per se. It is only when it causes bodily harm to someone that they object.

You can't be saying that it is ok to cut a few people with a manja just because it falls under the name of a festival?

[SankalpDesai]

I am at the end of my wits with what's going on in this forum. We have people lobbying to ban a festival celebrated for centuries, only to have gained notoreity recently, thanks to the advent of social media (and lots of people on bench with time to spare) and some hidden feelings for birds, suddenly waking up and making its presence felt.

Don't get me wrong (especially the mods!) and how many times should I repeat myself. I feel sorry for all those who got hurt due to this. My own real brother cut his upper lip last year. Does that mean we ban a festival? A completely logical question: you ride a bike, you meet with an accident, you die. Should we ban motorcycles? No. You take precautions. That is exactly I had written in my first post on page 3, which was highly misunderstood by the extremely learned members of this forum. When people fly kites, you take precautions and travel accordingly so that you can be saved from a mishap.

I believe in having a positive and constructive dialogue; but people have been using words like callous and insensitive quite freely, while replying to my post (which, somehow, has gone unnoticed to the great men behind the curtains). I'm open to a debate with logical and polite impersonal comments.

P.S. - I will fly kites, come what may.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

I am at the end of my wits with what's going on in this forum. We have people lobbying to ban a festival celebrated for centuries, only to have gained notoreity recently, thanks to the advent of social media (and lots of people on bench with time to spare) and some hidden feelings for birds, suddenly waking up and making its presence felt.

Don't get me wrong (especially the mods!) and how many times should I repeat myself. I feel sorry for all those who got hurt due to this. My own real brother cut his upper lip last year. Does that mean we ban a festival? A completely logical question: you ride a bike, you meet with an accident, you die. Should we ban motorcycles? No. You take precautions. That is exactly I had written in my first post on page 3, which was highly misunderstood by the extremely learned members of this forum. When people fly kites, you take precautions and travel accordingly so that you can be saved from a mishap.

I believe in having a positive and constructive dialogue; but people have been using words like callous and insensitive quite freely, while replying to my post (which, somehow, has gone unnoticed to the great men behind the curtains). I'm open to a debate with logical and polite impersonal comments.

P.S. - I will fly kites, come what may.

Nobody wants to ban kites. Its the chinese manja which has been banned. With population explosion, and lack of open spaces to fly kites(not a problem 30 years ago), even regular manja is dangerous now.
As a kid I have flown kits, but rarely we ran into a situation where we did not access to open grounds.
Vehicle density was also quite less.

As population density grows, traditions need to change. For example, for decades, Ludhiana's Gur mandi was an unofficial cracker warehouse.

Over the years, more and more shops opened, and the area became crowded. One fire, and it was devastating with lives lost.

So as local realities change, you have to adapt. In crowded cities, flying kites using a glass or metal laced string can be fatal.

So the tradition has to evolve. Maybe use non manja equipped strings.

Let me give you a parallel.
Lets suppose kite flying was done traditionally using a metal string. Electricity comes to the village, and kids start dying of electrocution. Now wouldn't it make sense for our hypothetical village to move to a nylon string itself?

Another parallel.
Gulli cricket was a tradition. 20 years ago, I used to play cricket and gulli danda on the streets near my ancestral house.
Now traffic has increased so much, that it would be suicidal.
So everybody adapted, and the practice went away.

With change in the demographics, population, land use etc., traditions need to change. 100 years ago, there were few people, and immersing home made idols painted with local ingredients into a river or sea was okay.

Today we have cheap industrial paints which are poisonous. So in the name of tradition, do we need to keep doing it? Instead of 10 idols painted with flower and plant extracts, we have 10,000 idols with lead based paint going into the rivers which are the nectar of life for our nation.

Just like all these things. Kite flying is also a tradition which needs to evolve.

[saket77]

Great post Tanveer. We need to end or modify the 'bad' things carried in name of tradition. Because for someone, kite flying is just fun, but at times, it costs the life of a loved one. Flying kites should (& will) prevail but manja surely has to go. The victim is not the one who is flying it, it is the one who suffers from it.