The moment he sees shutterbugs around, he puts on his jacket and cap that has badges all over that he got from different kite flying competitions in India and abroad. “Now I am ready for photographs. These badges are all I got from the various competitions I have participated in and won”, says Babu Khan, renowned Kite player with a twinge of sadness.
Jaipur may boast of its history and passion for kite flying but the state of his 75 –year-old kite runner definitely cuts a sorry figure. “ I have stopped participating in kite festivals as I never got any support from government. The government keeps talking about what all it does to preserve dying arts, isn’t kite flying one of them”, he asks. He further said that government abroad would only sponsor his air tickets. “ They say either take the prize money or the money for air tickets”, he adds.

The kite runner who had participated in kite festivals in Taiwan, France, USA and many other countries believes the system that prevails in India is same as kite flying. “ The Dangal system in kite flying is only prevalent in India and our government works the same way. In abroad people just fly their kites high irrespective of Dangal and their government works the same way. This explains why they have flourished and we have not”, he reasons.
Khan has been making living from kites since the tender age of ten. “That’s when my parents died”, he says. His family comprises wife, two sons and a daughter. Both his sons have their separate kite business and the daughter is still in school.

PS: I wrote this for the newspaper I worked with and this is UNEDITED and UNSTRUCTURED version. Just like this one and thought to share