| Kite flying is a universal sport, unique in
its fascination across the globe. An ancient sport, perhaps originating in China, it is
practiced in almost 50 % of the countries on earth. The desire to fly goes back a long,
long way and after magic carpets ceased to fly and before aircraft were invented, kite
flying was the closest mankind got to this innate desire.  Today this sport is witnessing
a major revival and India, with its ancient tradition of kite flying, could well benefit
from partcipating in this celebration of the international kite flying community. The
first and most evident benefit would be the arrival of a new, activity oriented, tourist
into India, more interested in the culure and traditions of the country, more ecologically
aware, and with a much greater " repeat " value. The second major benefit would
be an interaction between traditional Indian kite makers and their foreign counterparts.
An ancient traditional Indian skill would receive a new lease of life. Kite Festivals
attract many other traditional handicraftsmen and performers. They, too, would benefit
from the increased exposure.
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The 2nd Desert Kite Festival will have
almost 75 fliers from 7 countries. USA
From the USA comes a delegation of 7 people:
- George Peters - one of the foremost kite
designers in the world today. With his striking kites and colourful banners George puts up
a "wind garden," often flying many kites simultaneously and has sometimes been
called a "One Man Kite Festival." George returns to India after 5 years, having
last participated in the Golden Jubilee celebrations held at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in
1993. He is accompanied by Melanie Walker - a fine kite maker.
- Tal Streeter - the "Wise man of
Kites" is also journeying to India after close to 5 years. A sculptor and artist, Tal
turned to kites for the sheer exhuberance of this unusual art form - making kites which
challenge his training as a sculptor. Tal is also a very well respected writer and has
published 3 wonderful books which use kites as a vehicle to explore a country’s soul.
" A Kite Journey through India," published in 1996 is a fascinating account of
his travels in the country. Though his eyes are frequently raised to the sky, he
doesn’t miss much on the ground either ! Tal has also written 2 books on kites in
Japan - probably the finest books in the English language on the Japanese kite tradition.
Tal is accompanied by his wife, Dorothy Ann Streeter and her sister, Virginia Lee Fryer -
both serious kite enthusiasts and keen observers.
From the Drachen Foundation in Seattle comes Ms. Ali
Fujino. The Drachen Foundation is a non profit organization devoted to kites. Their
archives contain rare kites, plans, photographs, films, videos and all other kite related
materials. Ali hopes to take back a treasure trove of Indian kite related material for
display at the various exhibitions the Foundation organizes and supports.
Mr. Scott Skinner, President of the Drachen Foundation
and a world renowned kite designer will also partcipate with his fabulous kites.
France
 From France comes
- Jean-Philippe Bequet- Editor of Kite
Passion and Cerf Volant Passion - the leading kite magazines in the world today with a
combined circulation poised to touch the 1,00,000 mark. Jean-Philippe returns to Jodhpur
after a year - he was with us for the birth of the 1st Festival in Jan 97.
- Nicolas Chorier- who is making waves with
his aerial photography from kites. Nicolas, or Nicolai - as he is frequently callled,
sends a remote controlled camera upto 1000 feet in the air on one of his kites and
captures the scene in the sky and on the ground in an entirely unusual perspective. The
camera Nicolai sends aloft can be a a still or video camera, capable of transmitting a
signal to a receiver on the ground. We hope to get some really exciting footage of fighter
kite battles from Nicolai.
Belgium
From Belgium comes a team of three people who call
themselves "The Desert Kite Team!"
- Frank Coenraets and Guy van Acker
were with us at the 1st Festival. Apart from their beautiful big kites (Guy van
Acker’s Cat kite was one of the most attractive kites in the air at the 1st Festival,
Nest Lernout’s miniature Cody was a hit too)
- Andries van Looken.
The Belgians are keen fighter kite enthusiasts and will
undoubtedly have learned from their experiences in India the last time and are expected to
provide a serious challenge to the Indian fliers.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is another country which boasts a fighter kite
tradition and the Hong Kong Kite Fighting Club is sending a strong delegation of 5 expert
fliers to challenge Indian fliers on home ground. While the Hong Kong fliers also use
paper and bamboo kites and fly with manjha, a major difference is that the flier
has no assistant to take up and let out line from the reel or charkhi - he does the
whole thing all by himself, using his palms and the tops of his legs to reel in the charkhi,
or let out line. The flier’s jeans have strips of rubber stitched onto the upper legs
to facilitate this process ! This will be a new and exciting sight for Jodhpur.
England
From England we shall have an exciting buggier and
mountain-boarder, Paul Thody of Air Born Kites. David Brittain and his buggy were the star
attraction of the 1st Festival - the children followed him everywhere. Unfortunately,
David will not be with us this time for personal reasons, but Paul should provide the
excitement that high speed buggying generates.
New Zealand
From New Zealand come Colin Mckay and Geraldine Lopdell -
owners of a kite store called "Kite Supply!" and serious fliers themselves.
India
There will be
- 5 teams from Jodhpur
- 2 from Bombay
- 1 from Jaipur
- 1 from Aligarh and
- 1 from Bikaner
who will battle it out in the skies for the Fighter Kite
Championship. Their most serious competition will come from the Hong Kong Fighter Kite
Club - champion fliers and veterans of many aerial battles ! The Belgians too are expected
to test the skills of our local fliers.
The Festival is being organised by Nomad Travels of
Mumbai in collaboration with RTDC, Dept. of Tourism Govt. of India, Alliance Air, Indian
Railways, the WG Umaid Bhawan Palace, Balsamand Palace, Rajasthan Tours, Karni Bhawan, the
Air Force and the Army. All local coordination is being handled by Capt. M. Mathur a
leading handicrafts exporter of Jodhpur and a childhood friend of the chief organiser of
the Festival, Mr. Ajay Prakash, Chief Executive of Nomad Travels.
Mr. Prakash, an avid kite flier himself has participated
in International kite Festivals in France and Thailand and hopes to make the Desert Kite
Festival as popular as the Dieppe Kite Festival - the biggest and best kite festival in
the world, held every two years in France where almost 2000 fliers from all over the world
gather at a seaside park to enthrall the people.
 Festivals like this generate
tremendous spin off benefits in terms of tourism and support to local traditional
craftsmen feels Prakash. " We have a great kite tradition, we have the finest
craftsmen, the Indian fighter kite is recognised as a masterpiece of design the world
over, India has some of the finest places to fly from, the sport is gaining popularity by
the day. Isn’t it time we integrated with the global kite flying community ? "
says Prakash.
A seminar will also be held during the Festival to chart
out future plans for the Desert Kite Festival which has now established itself as an
exciting event on the International kite Calendar. The Department of Tourism is expected
to list the Desert Kite Festival as an an annual event in its calendar of Fairs and
Festivals and to give it world wide publicity. The event already figures on the internet
sites of Kite Passion magazine and Gomberg Kite Productions International. Nomad Travels,
too is setting up a web site to promote the event and to promote tourism in general in the
State.
Next year the Desert Kite Festival will host the World
Cup of Fighter Kites - a challenging competition between all the fighter kite nations of
the world - Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and India to
determine the best among the best and to determine who would bring home the Gold for their
country if Kite Flying were included as a competitive sport in the Olympics.
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