Hyderabad, January 15: When it comes to kites, names that strike immediately among kite-fliers are the traditional Nammam, Gudlandhar, Pound and few others.
But this trend is under threat with the market being flooded with Chinese kites, giving competition to traditional ones.
In markets like Gulzar Houz, Charminar, Dabeerpura, Begum Bazar, General Bazar, one comes across stalls displaying several fancy kites with Spiderman, eagle, butterfly and Batman designs. These new designs are said to be attracting customers with the kite-sellers doing brisk business.
“Last year we could not do much business. This year it has been better than last. Children are showing interest in buying new fancy kites from China,” Pandu, a vendor in Gulzar Houz said. Chinese kites are made of rayon-like material unlike the normal paper used in making traditional kites. Hence, the former cost more than ordinary kites with prices ranging between Rs 90 and Rs 180.
Markets this time are also offering a new manja, called nylon thread. This thread is not used for duel (called ‘peanche’ locally) since it is made without using crushed glass, which is generally used for making the manja. Kite vendors said the nylon thread is not useful for serious fliers.
“Some people fear their fingers might get affected by using the usual manja. But they still are interested to fly a kite by not entering in a duel. For such people the nylon thread comed handy,’’ Yakub, a customer at Gulzar Houz said.
However, introduction of Chinese kites has had an adverse effect on the livelihood of several families in the Old City, dependent on making of traditional manja as a business.
It is learnt that nearly 150 families have been affetced this year.
–Agencies