Page 174 - SocialHarmony

178 Social Harmony

There are different types of kites made and flown in
different parts of world. It may be possible to make kites without
wasting paper. In order to make this happen, the workers should
be explained how to make use of technology so that they can
make five kites instead of one from one meter of raw paper.
The State Government wants to help the kite industry by sales
management and other subjects. The government wants to
increase the kite business from 200 crores to 500 to 700 crores.
Though the festival is very popular in Gujarat, it is not celebrated
in many parts of Gujarat. We have to make efforts to ensure
that all of Gujarat starts celebrating it and gets used to it. We
have to send our kites where they have not yet reached.

The first step in the whole process is to create a market for
kites in Gujarat and other states of India. We have to cultivate
this interest of kite-flying among people. Gujarat does produce
bamboos, but the kind of bamboo needed to make kites is
sourced from Assam. Therefore, the making of kites is delayed.
This is a major problem. There should be an arrangement where
large industrial houses purchase bamboo from Assam and sell
it in Gujarat. We can even modernize the process of making the
gum used in kite making. The whole pre-production system
needs to be changed. It is not even necessary to source bamboo
from Assam. We can produce similar bamboos even in Gujarat.
If we do so, we would save the expenses of transportation and
make kites cheaper. The whole kite-making business could be
developed in Gujarat from scratch. But kites are made in the
old style and by the time they reach the shopkeepers, 10 to 15
per cent kites are spoiled and the total profit goes down. Despite
all these problems, the kite-making business has been able to
sustain itself. The State Government had written a letter to a
packaging institute to open a branch in Gujarat. The system of
parcelling the kites should be changed. We can modernize the
whole process and think about ways of storing kites in rainy
season also. The third important thing is the paper that is used
to make kites. Today, people want variety and uniqueness.
Sometimes we store kites for the next year and hence we should
also think about the durability of kites. We still have an old