Mahesh stores - 3

The kites came in different shapes and sizes. There was a tiny weenie one, the shape of the 5 paisa coin and sold for the same and the biggest of all the BAANA kite, which was sold for anything between three and twenty rupees depending upon the season and availability.

Amazing names, they had. The lists goes like this: Tube light, Meesai, Thalai pattai, rocket, korai thalai pattai, rettai meesai, othai meesai, thai pattai with korai, and my favourite were tub light and rettai meesai. There were also similar patterns in Bombay kites, which had a funny size and shape to the local vannarapettai kites. They literally looked like an obese bombayite with a big tummy, whilst the local ones were very sleeker, especially the baana kites.

Having said that the baana kites were mainly used for colouring the thread or the nool in Tamil, which is also called Maanja! The baanas were also mainly used by the big league players, who enjoyed showing of their prowess with a big kitchen coterie around them, when they play their kites, especially the Sundays. However, I still vividly remember the Deepavali day, when I took the whole of my medical school friends to the terrace or mottai maadi of my brother’s coterie or hub he used to hung around, and the haste in which I retreated after watching in absolute agony, the way our baana kites were disappearing one by one . That was even before they were raised on the sky! I came to know from by brother the next day the reason for the debacle; they were all hung over from the traditional Deewali eve extravaganza!!

My favourites to watch were the Tube light and Meesai ones! The main reason being the tube kites, especially a black tube placed on the Yellow or a white background, were flown successfully by the Thambucheety press gang or the family. One among them was my school mate and still a good friend of mine and lives with his family in Leeds UK.

To be continued.....