Messages, protests and political loyalties fly high
Sellers say there is always demand for kites with messages
JAIPUR: It was a mix of tradition, politics and social consciousness that was on display as people engaged in kite-flying on the occasion of Makar Sankranti festival on Monday.
Kites with socially relevant messages were flying high even as some people chose to display their political loyalty by printing the faces of their leaders who won the recent assembly elections on the kites.
However, the kites were used as a symbol of protest by some.
Several aspirants of t he Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS), who have been protesting at the main gate of the Rajasthan University for several days, flew kites with ‘RAS date badhao’ (postpone the dates for RAS exams) written on them.
Suresh Khileri, an RAS aspirant on protest, said that it was one way to register their protest against Rajasthan Public Service Commission’s decision to hold the exam early. “Since the entire city is celebrating today, we thought this should be our way of protest,” Khileri said.
Kites of different sizes and shapes were on display with faces of the winning MLAS printed on them. Losers in the elections were not left disap- pointed either; there were kites with some of their faces too. Images of national leaders as well as leaders from other states also figured in the festival.
“I like Arvind Kejriwal more than any other leader. Hence instead of flying Modi or Gehlot kite I bought Arvind Kejriwal kite. This is way of expressing my love for the leader,” said 21-year-old Nawaz Hussain from Handipura.
Mahesh Kumar, who was flying a kite near Tripolia bazaar with the message ‘Acche Din aa gaye’ (good days have come) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face printed on it, said: “It is to express my fondness for the leader. I wanted to send the message that good days are here.”
Socially relevant messages such as ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ were also seen on kites, which the sellers said were purchased in bulk. “Kites with such messages were taken in large numbers by NGOS and coaching centres. I have been selling kites for several years and the demand for such kites are always high,” said Gaffur Ansari, a kite seller at Handipura market.
“Several of the customers this time demanded kites with faces of political leaders, including Rafiq Khan, Amin Kagzi, and Sachin Pilot, printed on them,” Ansari added.