The enthusiasm of students flew sky-high, along with the kites

Cultural festival

The Chikkaballapur skies were dotted with colourful specks on Friday. They were kites of various shapes, sizes and colours flown by the students of BGS School in Agalagurki village of the taluk.

The kite festival, held for the first time, was the culmination of the cultural extravaganza held in the school. The teachers too participated along with the students enthusiastically.

Students can learn a lot from kite flying - from the making of a kite to finding out the reason why it flies. Through the ages, kites have provided more than entertainment .

They have been used by scientists, spies, sailors, meteorologists, explorers, messengers, inventors, researchers, and artists.

Pleasures

Kites are one if the happy pleasures of childhood. In many nations and in the pages of history we see that kites have been enjoyed, studied and used by adults also. Kites have been around for centuries. They are more than toys. Scientists have used kites to study, to invent, to explore, to work, to capture and to probe the unknown.

Douglas Archibald used a kite to which he had attached an anemometer to measure wind velocity. Leonardo Da Vinci attempted to use kites to cross water for the building of bridges. Ben Franklin used a kite in his studies of lightning.

Orville and Wilbur Wright used kites to help them learn the method of flight and to develop an airplane. Guglielmo Marconi used kites to carry an antenna high enough into the sky to allow him to send radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean. Alexander Graham Bell, made a new improved Hargrave Kite (a box kite) and used this work to design a number of successful aircraft. During World War II. Paul Garber designed a Eddy type kite that was used for gunnery target practice.

Writers’ delight

Noted litterateur Go Ru Channabasappa, who inaugurated the kite festival, said that it was a good that the kite festival is being held when the winds of the month of Ashada are blowing. At a time when indigenous sports such as kite-flying are slowly dying with the onslaught of modernism, such a kite-festival is appropriate. “Sports should not be limited to cricket and football but the same enthusiasm should be extended to kite flying. Flying a kite is also an art”, he said.

Channabasappa said that educational institutions should take the initiative to preserve and promote Indian sports and tradition. Only parents and teachers can guide students in the right direction, he said.

Siddeshwaranath Swamiji of Adichunchunagiri branch mutt, Headmaster of BGS School, D C Mohan Kumar, lecturer S Venkateshappa, BGS Pre-University College principal Ramesh  were present on the occasion.