When strings cross in the congested sky, the winner cuts loose the opponent’s kite. Some of the kite-flying competitions get extremely competitive and serious. Women, on this day, are seen wearing a bright yellow dress up to the hilt. This festival gained more and more importance over the years and used to attract people from all over the world. The stray kite strings cut the throats of innocent many a time. Basant, for some families, is different. The continuous use of coated and metal wire and subsequent casualties and losses necessitated the ban.

What is basant to Lahorites

Remember how white, moth-like kites began to fill the dark sky just before midnight, fleetingly lit by giant spotlights, while jubilant cries of “bo kata!” [I cut it!] rang out above pulsating bhangra music. Whites were for the nights. People usually crowd streets, parks, and rooftops to fly kites, listen to music, and party.

Once again, waiting and missing Basant ever since, when the skies of Lahore would see a curtain of colors. Basant, a festival of joy and entertainment, has become significantly dangerous for those involved in the festival and passersby. Of course, the general public still partakes in kite-flying however, Basant is not as grand as it once was and for all the right reasons. The way is not to close it down but to strongly regulate it. It needs to be protected, since it was the only time that the old city becomes one family, from street boys to multinationals.

People who oppose Basant think:

• Basant will cause major deaths on the roads; most involving little children and motorcyclists,
• People would engage in aerial firing in the ecstasy of the festival,
• People falling from the rooftop,
• Glass-coated strings would lead to several fatal bruises (The cords which started being built near PCSIR, Ferozepur or got introduced by Kite Makers like Liaquat from Ichra are razor-sharp (kfc, lb, or lm fromulae) so they can slash the strings of rival kites during aerial duels, but when they fall across roads they become “like cheese wire”, according to one policeman),
• Tripping of Several Electric Feeders (as to when the clutch wire, annexed to “tandi” with a “chameroo” shorts the transmission line) causing trouble for the patients on Life-saving machines,
• Electrocution is also reported,
• Hard-line Muslims oppose it as a waste of money and consider it a Hindu festival.

Make Safe Basant:

• Selling or manufacturing glass and chemical-coated kite strings should be banned (All the manufactures of that “Chemical” Dorr the Nylon string one should be prosecuted and this festival should be restored.),
• Allowing kite-flying at parks,
• Constitution of Committees to regulate no chameroo zone and restricting people who cross all limits of sanity during enjoyment,
• Banning of “Charkhi” and use of “Pinna” instead,
• No thread thicker than pantees minar not even pachees minar and GOD FORBID “16 no dor”
• Allowing kite flying with ordinary twine only,
• Try to protect motorcyclists from the killer twine by installing free antennas,
• Ban on freely running kite looters (luteray) also the use of Chamba
• There should be kite-flying zones for professionals like the use of Gaddafi Stadium, Minto Park, towards Qasoor.

Today, I play Pipa Combate 3D as I miss Basant.

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