In Udaipur I just happen to be in town for the International Kite Festival. What luck! I'm mulling over whether to go south or north and it presents an entertaining diversion.
Although big in many Asian countries, I just don't see kite flying taking off as an international spectator sport. For one thing it is dependent on reliable winds, which there weren't that day so teams had launch their kites running the length of the field in unified groups. The crowd of spectators cheered as they took off and then hushed as they drifted back down.
Some boys showed me how fighting kites are made by coating the string in paste and rolling it through crushed glass. Then you try to cut your opponents line by either pulling down quickly or letting line play out as they come into contact. A few years ago on a ferry in Chile a fellow motorcycle rider explained that a stiff metal antennae looking device with a hook at the top was mounted to his handlebars for just this reason. Kids in Brazil play with these kites and lines sometimes get hung across roads where they garrote hapless motorists.
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