Kite Flying
Ahmedabad hosted Red Bull Kite Fight 2015, and showcased their passion for this unique aerial sport.
Kite Fight (noun): The competitive art form of giving wings to an IFO (identified flying object) with a thread by harnessing the wind energy.
Kite flying has been around for centuries and across the world the homo sapiens have been performing this activity for various reasons. Neanderthals used to make cave drawings of kites to impress women; while Chinese used to fly it during the era of Han Dynasty for sending messages. One such kite flew across the Himalayas, landed in Manek Chowk and the secret of Paneer Manchurian was made public. Since then, in order to celebrate India’s most favourite Chinese starter, kite flying is celebrated all over Ahmedabad with much elan. Though we can’t really verify this above story of Mr. Kantibhai of Kantibhai Chinese Farsan Mart fame; one thing is for certain that when it comes to kite flying, the enthusiasm of ‘Amdavadis’ is unparalleled.
For this very reason, we decided to find the most skilled kiteflier from the city of Ahmedabad. Red Bull Kite Flight 2015 was organized over three days during 9th - 11th January, 2015. On the first day of the event, we went to old city of Ahmedabad, in the century-old locality of Manek Chowk. Though such an event was being organized for the first time in the heart of the Ahmedabad – the old city, nearly 200 kitefliers turned up on a busy Friday morning to participate in this unique battle. At the end of the day, Mr. Ankur Mehta took the top honours.
Kiteflying truly crosses all boundries of sex, age and religion. Talent is the only differentiating factor. European stunt biking champion Aras Gibieza was also present at the event to witness this fascinating sport. When asked if he found Kiteflying boring, the young Lithuanian replied:
It is Aras’ first-ever visit to India, and for him, seeing kite flying on such a large scale, where the entire city is seen celebrating the festival on the rooftops; was an experience like no other.
For the last and the final day of the Red Bull Kite Fight 2015, the campaign moved back to the old city of Manek Chowk. It being the last chance to participate, numbers of kitefliers gave up their Sunday morning beauty sleep and reported at the heritage site of Diwanji Ni Haweli in the bylanes of Manek Chowk. At the end of the last qualifying round of day 3, we discovered that Mr. Maulik Shah has some serious flying skills.
Three pre-final rounds took place between the NINE kitefliers (top 3 of each day) to determine which three masters of ‘Oye, lappet!’ would progress to the grand finale and battle it out for the title of the Red Bull Kite Fight Champion 2015. Not-so-surprisingly, in the pre-final rounds, the three winners of day 1, day 2 and day 3 emerged as three eventual finalists.
As the shadows grew longer, so did the length of the maanja; and the closer we got to determining who’s the best kite flier in the city of Ahmedabad. With some brilliant outswings and yorkers, it was the local lad (Manek Chowk – old city – resident), Ankur Mehta who lifted the crown.
Mr. Mehta crredited his success to the fact that he's been living in the old city since birth where kiteflying is not just a one day activity that you do on Makarsankranti. The buildup starts almost a month before the big day; and it hits the crescendo on 14th January. Though this was Mr. Mehta's first competitive event, 25 years of his kiteflying experience backed him up for the win.
The passion, enthusaism and the skillset of people of Ahmedabad has truly left everyone in the awe of this artform! If Mr. Mehta is to be believed, kite flying in Ahmedabad is something that can't be described in words, you have visit Ahmedabad and experience it for yourself.
We would like to thank Gujarat Tourism, Big Bazaar Red FM and The Chocolate Room who helped us in making this event a success. Red Bull Kite Fight 2015 has come to an end but the Amdavadis are only preparing for their traditional Grand Finale - Uttrayana!
Till next year, keep flying!
And don't forget the battlecry, KAI PO CHE!!!