China encroaches upon Pink City's kite markets

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Jaipur, Jan 9: With Makar Sankranti round the corner, the Pink City is all set for its annual kite contests but this year Chinese kites seem to have usurped the traditional market base here.

Small, colourful, foldable Chinese kites made of fabric have flooded the traditional kite markets like Haldiyo Ka Rasta, Kishanpole Bazaar and Handipura.

Kite seller Suresh Ram says, ''A Chinese kite can be folded and kept away safely after being flown once. Its reusability factor is making it popular among customers.'' Available for Rs 40 and above, the price factor does not seem to be a deterent for those opting for Chinese kites.

Anil Soni, scouting the narrow bylanes of walled city for a Chinese kite for his son, says, ''Once I buy Chinese kites for my teenage son, I don't have to bother about making more rounds to this congested market. Since these kites can be reused, I think they should be of good quality.'' The Chinese imprint is writ large on the kite accessory market as well. Thread reel (Charkhis) and plastic and nylon threads (manjha) 'made in China' have hit the markets in large numbers this year. However, despite the innovations, quality of Chinese products remain an issue.

Many kite sellers say the Chinese onslaught has affected their trade and people cannot be duped with inferior quality products any more.

Nitish, a kite seller, says, ''People now realise that Chinese only believe in quantity rather than quality.'' ''Since kite festival is the biggest fest of the city, diehard Jaipurites are not going in for the Chinese variant but prefer the tougher, superior indigenous brand,'' he adds.

Different types of traditional kites like Chandaar, Kannedaar, Gilasdaar, Mangdaar, Tiranga, Chai Haath and Aaari available in the market are popular. Some kite flyers like Ali, who favour the indigineous kites rather than Chinese, says, ''For me, it is always Ahmedabad-made kites and Bareli's manjha. Otherwise kite flying would become meaningless for me. I don't care about these Chinese kites.'' The traditional kites, ranging from 50 paise to Rs 50-60, come in designer variety now. You can buy a ''Salman'' kite and compete with an ''Aishwarya'' kite in the colourful sky.

Gauging the popularity of the kite fest in Pink City, even corporates and MNCs are finding it lucrative to use kites as a medium of advertisement.

The Rajasthan Automobile Dealers Association (RADA) will use 20,000 kites to popularise their Auto fair to be held next month.

RADA's secretary Naresh Singhal, says, ''We wanted 40,000 kites to advertise about our fair. But the kite fest is so popular here that kite makers have found it difficult to meet our demand. They could manage only 20,000 in this peak season.''


UNI

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