Anna kites rule Gujarat skies

 He might have inspired the entire nation to fight corruption, but Anna Hazare has also caught the fancy of kite makers ahead of the kite festival here.

With Uttarayan or the kite festival round the corner, every year kite makers come up with new ideas to attract the attention of their customers. This year is also no exception.

While the kite makers think the Gandhian is a good mascot to market, they admit that a lot of youngsters and non government organisations are placing orders for more Anna kites. “To begin with we had just made 5,000 kites with Anna images, but we realised that the demand for these kites were growing,’’ said Noorbhai Mohammed, one of the prominent  kite makers in the walled city area.

Kites with Anna images are made with the reprints of his photograph and apart from the original kite paper they are used even on plastic papers meant for making kites. “We have received an order for 10,000 Anna kites by a city based NGO, which plans to distribute these kites on the day of the festivals,’’ said another kite maker Hanif Mohammad.

Another kite maker Javed Malik, who is not very sure if he would be able to sell all his stock of Anna kites, admits he is a big Anna fan. “I wanted to meet Anna and be part of his rally when he came to Ahmedabad, but I could not make it so I see it as my way of paying tribute to Anna and be a part of his anti corruption movement,’’ he said.

Youngsters who have purchased Anna kites say that by flying kites bearing Anna’s images they would like to show that while they are celebrating a festival they are also part of  a national movement.

Says Hardik Bhatt who has already purchased 300 kites with Anna images: “I will fly some and distribute some to my friends as well and show our solidarity in a way with the anti corruption movement.’’ He said he was aware that a lot of city based NGOs were also placing orders for kites with Anna’s image for their distribution among children.