Go fly a kite

How many of us have heard the expression “Go fly a kite”. Usually, it means go away and stop bothering me. A simple sentence with an ancient history. For hundreds of years flying a kite has been an enjoyable activity for people all around the world and especially in the Far East where the origins of this activity can be found.

No wonder the earliest archaeological evidence of a kite is found in a Mesolithic cave painting in Indonesia dating back to 9000 BCE. However, kites were not regularly used until about 5th century CE in China.

There was even the use of kites for military purposes. The Chinese General Han Hsin of the Han Dynasty flew a kite over the walls of a city he was attacking to measure how far his army would have to tunnel to reach past the defences.

Other uses of kites were many and varied, coming in different shapes and forms. Over the millennia, kites have been used to sending messages, raising banners, dropping propaganda leaflets, spying on enemies, sending radio signals, forecasting the weather, photographing the Earth, and for recreational purposes even transporting human beings over scenic valleys.

Kite flying in Pakistan has written its own history recently. In the early days of Pakistan with limited sources kite flying was a very popular activity. Also due to the absence of tall skyscrapers that now dot the sky line in major cities, there were clear skies and kite flyers on the ground had no problem in matching their skills.

The kites and the thread, or Dhaga, were attached to each other and the process was fairly simple back in the days. All that changed over period of time and especially when kite flying became associated with Basant, a festival dating back to the days of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who with his wife would dress in yellow as would the courtiers and fly kites.

It became a very popular event in Punjab headquartered in Lahore and became a major commercial activity involving various tourist-related activities. This now attracted attention of big business and specially Dhaga makers who in their pursuit of making the most invincible Dhaga turned the simple dour into lethal strings-now locally known as Maanjha, with some laced with crushed glass for better performance against rivals.

This had disastrous consequences with kites carrying this lethal string floating down and in some cases getting entangled specially with motor-cycle and cycle drivers. Landing around their throat would cause fatal injuries and even loss of life.

Another major damage was to utilities as this new Dhaga had metal and falling on utilities like power transformers and transmission wires it caused major power disruptions as well as damage to the power infrastructure.

This is major lack of awareness which makes general public not even think twice while flying kites around high-tension power lines. Not only were the utilities faced with these losses but in a case of double jeopardy also faced lawsuits from the families of the deceased as well as bad publicity for actions that were beyond their control.

Basant was banned finally by the government even though it faced stiff resistance from those who had been benefitting from this surge in kite flying. Officially, kite flying and especially with metal coating is banned but it is as effective as a ban on aerial firing on New Year’s Day.

Both in Karachi and Lahore we still get reports of innocent people losing their lives in kite flying-related injuries through metallic threads and whole areas losing power because one induvial in the community decided that his aggressive kite flying is worth plunging an entire area into darkness.

As you can see the usage and popularity of kite flying has changed over the years. I don’t think Maharaja Ranjit Singh would in his wildest dreams envision kite flying with metallic threads that not only kill people but destroy power structures.

Today as someone was bothering me I wanted to tell him “Go fly a kite” but stopped myself just in time. Kite flying is not the simple enjoyable activity it used to be in yester years. It has changed from a simple activity to one that inflicts loss of life and damages infrastructure.

How does that happen is very simple. Kites in major cities of Pakistan are now flown with the help of metal wires that are chemically coated for better performance. Just the mere presence of a metallic wire within the power field even without actual contact with a transmission line around high-tension wires carry the risk of electrocution with lasting injury or fatality.

This also causes unwarranted disruption in the supply of electricity, which happens frequently in Karachi. ‘Go fly a kite’ has a whole new meaning now.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025