HYDERABAD: New Year celebrations apart, the month of January always had more for Hyderabadis to cheer about. Close to a two-week-long government holiday for Sankranti, a festival that erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government celebrated with all pomp and pride, was a reason behind the soaring spirit of Hyderabad.
And kite-flying was the favourite pastime irrespective of one’s religion. However, ever since the Telangana government decided to cut short on Sankranti festivities in terms of government holidays, a particular section of the society has been impacted.
“Those days when people would come with their children a week before the festival are long gone. Our stock would be finished and new stock would be on its way. Now, things have changed and we are not as enthusiastic about business as we used to be,” says Thaqib of Mahboob Patang Shop.
This year manufacture of kites has dropped from 10,000 to almost half not only because of the new policy but also owing to demonetisation.
Another kite vendor says, “It is our humble request to the government to give at least five days of leave to schoolchildren so that they can fly kites. Unlike businesses of crackers and decorations, our sales don’t last throughout the year. It is only in these few days that kites are flown.”
Even the variety of kites is quite limited this year. Same is the case with the quality. “We are selling mainly plastic kites because paper supply has gone down,” says Vinod of Balaji Kite shop.
Bareilly Manjha a ray of hope
The ban on nylon manjha, also known as ‘China manjha’ which was the reason for many casualties in last few years, has brought back into market the ‘Bareilly manjha’ which is the traditional kite string made out of crushed glass. The return of this manjha is the only hope for kite vendors to make some money since it costs more than nylon manjha.
New Attractions
Big attractions for this year’s sankranti are ‘Modi Key Note’ kites which have a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi surrounded by the new `2,000 and `500 notes. Other themes are Bollywood blockbusters like Sultan, Dangal and the upcoming Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees. Posters of Bahubali 2 and Kabali are also being used to make attractive plastic kites.