Kerala has Potential to Become Country’s Kite-flying Capital: International Flyers

KOZHIKODE:
Kerala’s expansive and breezy seashores make it an ideal place to host kite festivals like no other state in the country, according to experts from India and abroad at a world-class water-sport event on the occasion of Christmas and New Year.

Winds of desirable speed blow along the spacious coasts of Kerala, making its sunny beaches highly suitable for kite-flying, said participants at an international kite festival at the ongoing Beypore Water Festival (BWF-2) near this city.

“Availability of winds is crucial for flying kites. Kerala has sufficient amount of this resource,” pointed out Mehmoud, a star competitor from Turkey, celebrated for its kite-flying tradition. “The natural conditions here are such that you can fly any variety of kites.”

Five kinds of kites feature generally at kite festivals in India. One is the two-lined ‘stunt’ kite that allows the flyer to maneuver the winged craft up, down and horizontally. The others are ‘chord-line’, the longish ‘train’, light-weight ‘saucer’ and the round-shaped ‘ring’.

Gadis Widiyati from Singapore, who has flown kites in varying weather from zero-wind to stormy conditions, noted that Kerala is a benign place for the sport. “The new generation has confined their challenges to the virtual world of mobile games,” bemoaned the 61-year-old star. “Kite-flying can make them energetic both bodily and mentally. The game is suitable for people of all ages.”

Mehul Chavda of Rajkot observed that Kerala has more suitable conditions for kite-flying.

The Christmas evening on Sunday saw no less than 50 kites of varied shape and hues flying in the skies of Beypore, 12 km south of the city, as part of the BIWF slated to conclude this Wednesday. The most striking among them included Jaipur-based Abdul Hamid’s 150-odd kites tied to a single thread, the kite of Jaisal Singh from Punjab bearing the message ‘I Love Your Beypore’ and the one titled ‘Giant Crab’ by a five-member team from Vietnam.

Within the country, the flyers came from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka, Punjab and Odisha besides the host state. “Kerala needs to come up with more kite-flying festivals featuring both domestic sportspeople and those outside the country,” said Abdu Nasser, coordinator of One India Kite Team (OIKT), a 2017-floated collective of professional kite-flyers in the country. “Kite-flying can blend sports with tourism.”

Kites at such festivals can cost from Rs 15,000 to lakhs, revealed OIKT captain Abdulla Maliyekkal, amid thousands of people who thronged Beypore beach to watch the event. “Only when the giant kites fly up in the sky would we realize their aerodynamics and the craft behind their design.”

The second edition of the five-day BIWF, being organized by Kerala Tourism in association with the Kozhikode District Administration and District Tourism Promotion Council, Kozhikode is part of the government’s efforts to tap the tourism potential of this ancient Malabar port town.