Filmi fever rule the skies too

While ���German manjas��� are the new pick, Bollywood stars feature on kites this Sankranthi too.
Walk across the bazaars at Mahankali Temple and Gulzar Houz, and you'll come across little shops flooded with colourful kites and hawkers busy haggling with customers over prices. This Sankranthi, showbiz stars are all set to adorn the skies yet again. Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and gang are gearing up to fight for one-upmanship ��� high in the sky.
Foreign influence
While showbiz dominating the kite-business is nothing new, it���s the dismal state of affairs for kite-makers that catches one���s attention. With a sharp drop in kite-making in the city, vendors claim that all products today are directly brought from cities like Jaipur and Ahmedabad. ���There was a time when people placed their orders months in advance and customised their patangs.
The trend has declined now, so it doesn���t make sense to invest manpower. Of course, the regular lathi-dhar and guli-dhar range are selling. But we just purchase the kites from other cities,��� says Durga Prasad, a kite seller. Meanwhile, there is a ���foreign��� invasion in the manja sales. Not so long ago, the market was invaded by a host of competitors for the
Indian manja, primarily the Chinese dhaga and Bareilly manja.
This year, however, manja has gone the European route, or so they claim. The ���German manja��� is a plastic wire that is water- roof and has a stronger cutting edge. ���One reel of the German and Chinese wire costs `400, while the ones from Bareilly are priced at `200. Both are machine-made. Meanwhile, the real deal, the Indian manja is tediously prepared with a strong coating of crushed glass, eggs, pigeon droppings and wax. They cost only `70, yet people prefer the costlier ones,��� rues Vishnu Pandey, another vendor.
Bollywood rules
With the Germans and Chinese giving us stiff competition in the kite market, not all is lost. After all, it���s the Indian stars that are the ���face��� of the various tethered aircrafts. Selling like hot cakes this season are Salman Khan, Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3, Katrina Kaif and wait for it, even AR Rahman! The ���Bebo Patang��� has Kareena Kapoor���s newly-married avatar adorning the kites. Despite their losing streak, Team India still remains a favourite with pictures of Dhoni and Co. forming many a patang with their World Cup-winning moments.
While for the conscientious lot, there are eco-friendly kites made of milk packets, the novelty-lovers will love the ���small kite��� ��� the size of your palm ��� being sold as souvenirs. Despite kite-making going out of fashion in the city, Mukram Shah, who has been in the kite-making and selling business for over 25 years now, has an interesting tale to tell. ���In olden days, kites were used to receive messages and measure distances during war. When we were young, we had competitions and the one who wins was crowned with the tag ��� ���Patangbaazi Mein Akhri Ustaad���. Now, the art of flying kites is slowly being forgotten!��� he exclaims.