The history of kite flying in Jammu is perhaps as old as the tradition of celebrating festivals and festivities. Though much research has not been done about this sport yet it may be argued that since kite flying is a common phenomenon between Raksha Bandhan and Shri Krishna Janamasthami in the Hindu holiest month of Shravan, the tradition must be from the times immemorial and this has not waned so far.
As the kite flying boom is at an all time high across Jammu region during this festive season , notwithstanding intermittent rains, the threat to people continues to remain imminent. STATE TIMES teams, which visited around 97 locations in different parts of the City where the people of different age-groups, predominantly youngsters, were engaged in the kite flying at their roof-tops, could not find a single place where Chinese Manja was not being used. When asked about the danger of Chinese Manja, the users shrugged their shoulders casually with a ‘what-to-me’ attitude. And when asked why they were not making use of local thread, almost everyone laughed and quipped sarcastically, where is Indian Manja; the Chinese Manja is easily available in the open market. To check the menace, police will have to maintain strict vigil and tackle firmly the unscrupulous Chinese Manja trade to discourage kite flying with the glass coated string.
Kite flying is impossible without Manja-the string used for sending the kites in far-away skies– with the adventure of outdoing adversaries by bringing down their kites, known in Dogri as Pecha. But many kite fliers don’t know that their fun leaves many birds maimed and humans dead due to use of Chinese string, made of glass coated nylon thread. This was not the scenario before the advent of the Dragon strings.
The City of Jammu had a very dependent and almost risk-free mechanism of flying kites with local thread (the local made Manja), which kept improving from time to time. The old timers still recall the times when the very famous Shiv Ram alias Shivo and Laali, used to make the string or Manja in Rani Talab area of the old city decades ago. Those days these vicinities formed the pride of the City of Temples. They had inherited the trade from their ancestors. They kept on improving their brands with soaring demands by the kite lovers, especially during festive seasons. The legendary Manja makers used to produce the rolls of strings from their homes and the number of clientele would always be huge. Those in 60s and 70s now still fondly recall the days of Shivo and Laali.
With the change of times, skilled persons from Amritsar and other peripheral areas, engaged in Manja trade, entered into the booming Jammu market and started their Manja kiosks at different places near the GGM Science College, Satwari Chowk, B.C Road and the various other vicinities.
The Manja of those times was not considered harmful or hazardous to life, except for inflicting cuts on the fingers of the users, which too could be averted by taking safety measures like covering fingers. However, for the last few years, the traditional Manja makers are not seen anywhere, notwithstanding the fact that they used to be most sought after. Ostensibly, absence of the traditional Manja makers paved way for Chinese strings to take over the Jammu business, rendering skilled and unskilled workforce jobless, who otherwise used to work for the local and Punjab Manja makers, directly or indirectly.
Initially, the changing trend in the string trade did not catch the imagination of the administration but in the wake of the dangerous and hazardous fall out of the Chinese Manja, blanket ban was imposed on its sale and use. The violation entails a fine of Rs one lakh or imprisonment of five years or both. The penal measures, it appears, have not been taken seriously by the unscrupulous traders engaged in the business of Chinese Manja across the country, resulting in fatalities and casualties. This is a dangerous trend and brazen violation of the laws in-force and recommendations of the Green Tribunal. Such a trend has to be reversed in the larger interest of the travelling and commuting public. This is a seasonal crime, which is rampant during kite flying events held during different seasons across India. While in Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan, people fly kites during the festival of Makar Sankranti, in Bengal kites are eagerly flown during festivals like Vishwakarma Puja, Akshay Tritiya. Similarly, in most parts of the country, the kites are flown between Raksha Bandhan and Shri Krishna Janamashtami. In Delhi kite flying takes place on the Independence Day while in Punjab-Haryana belt skies dot with colorful kites on Baisakhi and Basant Panchami.