Fly your kite and see your prayers answered<\/p>\n
By Mehru Jaffer<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): People play all kinds of games all the time,
\nfrom boxing each other to kicking ball, but what makes Peggy
\nhappiest is pulling strings.<\/p>\n
Although associated predominantly with the whimsical world of
\nmen who refuse to let go of the little boy in them and love the
\nkite simply because it is able to repeatedly arouse the charms of
\nchildhood in them, Peggy is one woman who is as equally taken
\nwith kites.<\/p>\n
\"Though I am more attracted to the sculptural quality of kites
\nnow, and the engineering that goes into them, I still feel a
\nflutter of joy whenever I see a kite ... I guess I am one of
\nthose who wants to keep the little girl in me alive,\" she
\nconfides to The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Peggy, an expatriate, shared her passion with an enchanted
\naudience at the city's Erasmus Huis recently. She has loved kites
\nfor as long as she can remember. As a design student at
\nuniversity, she participated in a competition for the design,
\nbuilding and flying of kites and won a prize. As an art teacher
\nshe had students design and fly kites for part of their unit on
\nsculpture.<\/p>\n
But to be involved in the activity here, in the East where
\nkiting itself is thought to have began more than 2,000 ago, is a
\nmost thrilling experience for her.<\/p>\n
However, confusion over who first invented the kite continues
\nunabated to this day as some feel that it was between 400 and 300
\nBC that Archytas first used a kite in the Greek city of Tarentum.
\nThe Chinese claim that a Gen. Han-Sin discovered its use in 206
\nBC for warfare. And the discovery of an ancient cave drawing of a
\nflying man in Southest Sulawesi's Muna regency leads others to
\nbelieve that kites may even have originated here in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
According to yet another myth, the ancient sport dates back to
\na time when human beings still floated about as mere specks in
\nthe wind. Once dropped down to earth, they kept in touch with
\ntheir ethereal home through the soaring spirit of a kite.<\/p>\n
Personally, Peggy prefers the story that says to fly a kite is
\nto be able to put your very heart on a string in order to kiss
\nGod.<\/p>\n
While the kite has been put to some very practical uses in the
\nWest from recording temperatures, aerial photography to testing
\ntheories for the first flying machine that soon after gave birth
\nto the airplane, both kite making and flying have remained
\nprimarily a magical and mystical activity in the East.<\/p>\n
A ninth century Buddhist monk once burst into this poetry: My
\nkite rises to celestial regions\/ My soul enters the abode of
\nbliss.<\/p>\n
Some scholars insist that the kite originated as a symbol for
\nthe soul of man. When oriental seamen saw the sail of a boat
\nsuddenly blown off in a high wind, they immediately connected
\nthis with the life and death of man. They saw how the boat or
\nbody depended upon the very slender thread connecting it to the
\nsail or soul.<\/p>\n
Some of the most beautiful kites today are made in Bali in
\npraise of the creator. They are thrown toward the sky to please
\nthe gods in their heavenly abode. Word has spread around the
\nworld about the spectacular process the Balinese banjar
\n(neighborhood) employ in creating kites in mainly three different
\nstyles of the fish, dragon and the eye, and visitors pour onto
\nthe island soon after the end of the rainy season to witness the
\ncolorful creatures being made and launched toward heaven.<\/p>\n
Some of the gigantic ones are as long as 300 feet and it takes
\na score of people to carry one in a festive procession through a
\nvillage. This year the skies above Bali are expected to be
\ncanopied once again with 1,000 kites and more between July 14 and
\nJuly 16.<\/p>\n
While farmers all over Indonesia have been using them around
\ntheir fields for centuries to keep birds away, the Balinese also
\nlike to fly humming kites over the bridal chamber of newlyweds in
\nthe hope of everlasting marital bliss.<\/p>\n
In South Sumatra men in little boats let kites catch fish
\nwhile in West Java kites are meant to trap large fruit-eating
\nbats that exit their caves every evening near sunset.<\/p>\n
It was the gigantic kites with their intricate patterns and
\nbright colors that first drew the attention of Peggy at one of
\nthe international bazaars held here regularly to collect money
\nfor charity. She liked one shaped like a golden dragon in
\nparticular and wanted to have it mainly for decorative purposes.<\/p>\n
Her inquiries led her to Ibu Sari Madjid, the owner of Le
\nGong, the most fascinating kite shop in town, and the Indonesian
\nKite Association (Pelangi). Pelangi was formed in 1996 and helped
\nIndonesia gain recognition and respect as the home of some of the
\nbest kites in the world.<\/p>\n
The country also participates in international kite festivals
\nwhere it has bagged prizes in kite fighting, height and length of time
\nof flight and for the technical skill of the players.<\/p>\n
While most entries from western countries are made from modern
\nmaterials like strongly woven rip-stop nylon and carbon fiber
\ngraphite rods and other high-tech, space-age geegaws, many
\nIndonesian kites are still made out of traditional materials like
\nleaves.<\/p>\n
The kaghati kite from Muna regency in Southeast Sulawesi is in
\nfact a collector's dream and is desired by museums across the
\nglobe. After all, it is a direct descendant of leaves that have
\nbeen spiraling to the ground since time undated by human memory
\nand of birds that rode the currents of air before the eyes of
\nprimitive man.<\/p>\n
Made from a single leaf of the wild cassava or from a dried
\nleaf of the fern, the diamond shaped kaghati is rumored to be the
\nonly one of its kind that is able to communicate best with the
\ngods. So if you have a prayer pending and still want it answered,
\nall you have to do is join the annual kite carnival at the
\nNational Monument (Monas) Park, to be held in Jakarta this year
\nthrough July 7 and July 9.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fly-your-kite-and-see-your-prayers-answered-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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