Cellphone, safety concerns ground kite-flying spree

KOLKATA: Ahead of Viswakarma puja, try and spot a kite in the Kolkata sky and you would be disappointed.
The handful of kites fluttering in the horizon is starkly different from the scene in earlier Viswakarma Pujas, when the city skyline would be dotted with red, blue, purple and other hues, thanks to the overenthusiastic youngsters, competing with their "rivals" over their flying skills.
So, why is Kolkata's GenY shunning kite flying? Those in the kite trade rue that business was real bad and blamed it on the youngsters' "attachment to their mobiles". "Nowadays, you see school- and college-goers glued to their mobiles. Anyone with phones or tablets would rather play games online than fly kites. The Kolkata youths are very different from their counterparts in Gujarat and Maharashtra who have upheld the age-old tradition of kite flying. It's not as if the mobile and digital revolution is not sweeping other parts of the country. If anything, kids there are even more mobile savvy. But that hasn't stopped them from keeping up this sporting tradition. Go westward and you'll see such a colourful skyline at this time of the year," said Saikat Dutta of India Kites, a store in north Kolkata's Santosh Mitra Square.
Ajit Dutta of Nebutala's Kolkata Kites said, "Earlier, kids were encouraged by elders to fly kites. Parents, family members and elderly neighbours would actually ask youngsters without kites in hand why they were not flying a kite. But that is no longer the case. In fact, parents actively discourage children from taking to kite flying, primarily out of safety concerns." Confirming this notion, Joyotee Mukherjee, a schoolteacher residing in Salt Lake, said, "I don't allow my eight-year-old son to fly kites ever since my nephew nearly fell off the terrace, engrossed in his kite."
Hatibagan's Shyamalesh Das (18) pointed to a rather valid reason for not flying kites: "I like flying kites but there is no playground near my house."
Sandip Pal of High Kite Fliers Club said, "Kite competitions were regular at Rishra, Hooghly on Republic Day, while Howrah residents took part in competitions every August 15. On pous sankranti, kites will dotthe Serampore skyline. On Viswakarma Puja, you wouldn't find a single place from Belur to Behala where people weren't flying kites."