# 21 - The Kite Flyer - I

Something led him to open his eyes. He didn’t know what it was. He turned to one side of the bed, and without getting up looked at the bedside table clock; it was seven now. Luckily he was not supposed to go to school this morning. Otherwise he would have had to get up at six. He decided to sleep for some more time.

Bhanu had no hurry to wake up early today. This was the first day of the two-month long summer vacation.

When he opened his eyes again it was eleven. He quickly got out of the bed. First thing he went to the study table and possessively looked at the kite lying on it. He had wanted it so much and for so long.

Bhanu was eagerly waiting for the summer vacation to begin.

His mother was just not allowing him to buy a kite for himself. She thought he was still very young for such a sport.

Bhanu had to persuade her for weeks before she agreed to buy him a kite and a charkhi. But she also put a condition on it. She would buy it only when his school closed for the summer vacation. And so it was that only a day before, his wish was fulfilled.

He was still staring at the kite. He just couldn’t take his eyes off it.

One problem still remained though. She had sternly refused to buy a manja. He thought she feared that it could hurt his fingers. How was he going to strengthen the dor? He had pleaded to her but to no avail. He would have to do with saddi now. Anyways he was happy that at least he would get to see his kite flying high in the sky.

He got ready for the occasion. He put on a pair of bright yellow shorts and a red T-shirt. He had especially chosen this pair just for this day. It was a big day for him.

He had lunch at two-thirty.

At three in the afternoon, with kite in one hand and charkhi in another he and his little sister rushed out of the house. There was a big playground in front.

It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon. The sky was a riot of colors. One could see kites flying all over the sky - red kites, blue kites, and golden kites; big kites, and not-so big kites; high-flying kites which were nothing more than specks in the sky, not-so high-flying kites, and low-flying kites. One could let his imagination run wild and the thought-of kite would be up somewhere in the sky; all one had to do was to scan the sky.

The playground was full of boys who were experts at kite flying.

Bhanu and his sister were easily the youngest children in the entire field. He was only eight years old, and his sister was just two years younger to him.

Now that he was in the middle of all action, he had absolutely no idea what was he supposed to do. He of course knew he was there to put his kite in the sky but how? He just didn’t know what to do. It was the first time when he had actually gone to the playground with a kite and a charkhi. He was so close to realize his dream and yet so far.

Asking someone for help was out of the question. Bhanu considered himself to be a shy kid, and moreover he hated being ridiculed by others. As he didn’t know even the basic process of tying the dor with the kite, he was certain that other boys were definitely going to make fun of him.

So he decided to observe some nearby boys who were already flying kites. He made sure that he didn’t observe someone for far too long lest he became suspicious about Bhanu. He didn’t want to appear like a novice at kite flying. After some twenty-minute of observing six guys he at least knew now what was to be done. After several tries Bhanu was finally able to put the kanni in the kite. All this while his little sister was just observing him instead. She was concerned about only one thing – when would Bhanu put the kite into the sky?


© 2007 Ankur Shanker
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