Additional attention has been focused on Noor Agha, the talented kite maker of Kabul, who was selected to build kites for the upcoming movie version of The Kite Runner.

In addition to making kites for the movie, Agha was asked to train the two young actors, who play principal characters from  Khaled Hosseini's best seller, to fly kites for the movie.  The skilful flying and fighting of kites in the tradition of Afghanistan is a key part of the story line.

Raju Gopalakrishnan. a reporter for the Reuters News Agency, tracked Noor Agha down in his home on the outskirts of Kabul.  Noor Agha now lives on the only vacant land he could find: -the graveyard of the district he was born in.  He has made a home and location for his kite making business along with his two wives and ten children.

An article in Gulfnews.com based on  Raju Gopalakrishnan's reporting contains two excellent photographs of Noor Agha and his kites. 

An earlier entry in my blog on this topic outlines some additional information on Noor Agha and his role in providing kites for the movie The Kite Runner.

Kabul's skies are once more filled with darting kites since the ban on kite flying imposed by the Taliban regime was lifted when a new government came to office in late 2001.

Skilled kite maker Noor Agha is again plying his trade and selling kites to make a living.  In fact, business is so good that he has taught all of his wives to make kites and is training his six year old daughter to do so as well.

Noor Agha's traditional Afghan kites are so authentic and precise that they were selected for use in the filming of the movie version of Khaled Hosseini's best selling novel, The Kite Runner.  (See entry on The Kite Runner movie.)  His kites were shipped in large quantity to China where the movie was filmed . The kites will be seen by millions of people around the world on the big screen.

Time Magazine reports:

Agha's factory is his living room, where he has put his two wives and 11 children to work, cutting, shaping and gluing the intricate tissue-paper mosaics that make his kites stand out for their beauty and superior handling. The secret is in the glue, he says, holding up a pot of evil-smelling green paste. "No one knows my recipe for making a glue that stays perfectly flat when it dries, without rippling the tissue paper," he says. Business is so good these days that Agha has had to teach his wives how to make kites. He proudly calls one of them "the second best kite maker in Kabul," although he insists that she will never be as good as he is. "I have 45 years' experience. She'll never be able to catch up." His 6-year-old daughter may have a better chance. Already she is making her own kites to sell to neighborhood children at one afghani (2¢) apiece.[1]

Noor Agha had to take his business underground in order to make kites during the Taliban days, but now his work can be sold openly.

'Kabul has changed a lot compared with how it was in the Taliban time. During their regime, if a child was even caught flying a (cheap) plastic kite, his father would be thrown in jail,' he said.

'But fortunately now, we live like kings. We can do whatever we want. We can fly kites wherever we want. We can enjoy our hobbies."[2]

Not only does Noor Agha craft traditional kites to a level of excellence, he still flies them once a week with other kite fliers. He continues to experience the sheer joy of controlling a darting kite and battling with opponents for supremacy in the skies.  Agha concludes:   "Making kites is my job," he says. "Fighting them is my disease." [3]

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References:

1.   TIME Magazine (On-line)  Friday, February 23, 2007 

2.   Kite industry thriving in Afghanistan.  Monday, November 13, 2006

3.   TIME Magazine (On-line) Friday, February 23, 2007 

Since the inception of the ban on kite flying by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2005, there has been great confusion over kite flying, kite making and the sale of kites and line in Pakistan.

Kite flying is a very popular and culturally embedded tradition in Pakistan, especially during Basant, the festival that welcomes the coming of Spring to the nation.  Basant is celebrated by people of all religions: Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Christians.

Historically there have been a great many injuries and even deaths attributed to kite flying.  Kite fliers typically take to the roof tops in the crowded cities and some have fallen from their perch to the streets below.  To show off  kite flying skills, participants try to cut each other's kite from the sky.  To enhance the ability to cut through an opponent's kite string, glass coated line is often used. In recent years a type of metallic coating has been applied to the kite line to increase the cutting property.  This metallic line has frequently shorted power lines and caused electrical outages.

One of the most significant dangers of the coated line occurs when it drops into the street and is snagged across trees or power poles.  Motor scooter riders are then in particular danger of being cut on the neck and arms by the sharp line.  Several deaths have occurred in this way.  In addition, there is much carnage to the bird population during this period of kite flying.

All of this led to the ban on kite flying by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2005.  However, the tens of thousands of kite flyers that continued flying in spite of the ban made an enforcement nightmare for the police.  In addition, the ban specified that kite makers and line makers were subject to banishment as well.  This cut into the livelihood of many and added severe economic deprivation to the kite makers.

So, in 2006 some regulations were developed around the original kite flying ban to ensure that kite makers could be licensed and controlled and to permit kite flying under certain safety regulations for a limited number of days during the festival.  This led to continued confusion and even more headaches for the enforcement authorities.  In 2006 the number of deaths and injuries were reduced but not eliminated under the new regulations.

Once again this year, confusion reigns over the issue of making, selling and flying kites in the skies over the major cities of Pakistan.  It is difficult to legislate an end to a practice that is deeply embedded in the culture of a nation.  Kite flying is not likely to disappear so additional education on safe practices will definitely be needed.  For certain, metallic coated line needs to be banned. 

One of the practical solutions to the safety issue for motor scooter riders in urban areas was the development of "kite-string rods" which attach to the bikes to ensure that sharp kite lines are deflected up and over the riders and their passengers.

Speaking at a meeting of All-Pakistan Kite Dealers-Manufacturers Association, the District coordination officer (DCO), Muhammad Ijaz said on February 1, 2007 that  all union council nazims would provide safety kite-string rods to people who had motorcycles registered under their names. Traffic police would take action against people not using helmets and rods, he added.  (Daily Times of Pakistan) 

Other regulations have been developed to define the size of kites that can be produced and marketed by the licensed kite makers and vendors.  For example,  a butterfly kite’s maximum span would be 32 inches and no kite would  be permitted to exceed a span of 40 inches. Another regulation ensures that kites in each region could only be manufactured using local materials. Materials from other cities would require the permission of the district environment officer.  This latter regulation was not seen as a safety regulation, but rather was introduced to ensure that the local kite economy which was being hit hard by the rules would remain viable.  The regulation was intended to discourage the importing of kites from other nations and areas.

The culture of kites in Pakistan is so embedded into the national psyche that it is hoped that these regulations will help to promote safe kite flying while still encouraging the continuance of the unique relationship of kites and kite fighting skills to the people of Pakistan.

Khaled Hosseini's runaway best seller, The Kite Runner  (Riverhead Publishing- 2003-06-02 - ISBN: 1573222453) rose to the top of the New York Times Best Seller List and has generated sustained reader interest over several years.

 It is an epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes the reader from the final days of the monarchy in Afghanistan to the control and atrocities of the Taliban regime.  It is an unforgettable story of coming of age, self discovery, betrayal and redemption that took millions of readers around the world into a different culture through a dramatic tale.

The main characters are Amir and his good friend Hassan who grow up together until a tragic event causes Amir to turn his back on his friend and leave him to suffer at the hands of a violent street gang.  At the time of the event, Amir has just concluded a successful battle with his kite for supremacy of the neighborhood skies during an Afghan festival.  Hassan, as always streaks away to retrieve the kites cut during the battle to bring them back for Amir.  It is during this "kite running" that Hassan is cornered by the gang and Amir turns away from his friend.  The story of the painful aftermath for Amir, Hassan is wonderfully told by Khaled Hosseini in his first novel.  The insights into Afghan culture and life are deep and profound.  They put a human face on the upheaval and suffering that has befallen the central Asian nation over the past years.

Now, Paramount Vantage and Director Marc Forster, backed by Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks,  are bringing The Kite Runner to the silver screen this fall.  Scheduled for release November 2, 2007, the movie has already completed shooting and has moved to the post-production phase.

For kite fliers the story has additional appeal in that it focuses on the kite battles that exemplify the kite flying skill typically found in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.  The tradition of using darting fighter kites flown on line coated with ground glass is strong in these nations and continues to this day.

Due to the difficulty and danger of  conditions in Afghanistan, the production team sought alternative locations for filming.  Kashgar, China was selected for its close resemblance to Afghanistan.  Here, in Muslim neighborhoods, that are very similar to pre-war Kabul in the 1970's, the movie has been given visual authenticity.

The producers and director have worked hard to provide complete authenticity to the entire production.  The streets are full of bearded men in traditional garb and of women wearing burkhas.  The cast was selected for both their ability to act and to speak in "Dari", the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan.  The entire dialogue is in the language and dialect of Afghanistan.  This means that English speaking audiences will be following the story in sub-titles.  Director Forster is confident that the story will grip movie audiences even though they will have to expend the effort to read and follow the on-screen action simultaneously.

Khaled Hosseini (right) was present throughout most of the filming and worked directly with Marc Forster left) and the actors to help interpret the story that is so important to him.

Kekiria Ebrihimi, age eleven at the time of the filming, plays the role of Amir. Ahmad Khan Mahmiidzada, age ten, plays the role of Amir's faithful friend, the servant boy,  Hassan.  The role of Amir's father, Baba, is played by 59 year old Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi.  Kahlid Abdallah, a British actor with Egyptian heritage, plays the role of the adult Amir.  

The November 2, 2007 screening date is eagerly awaited by fans of this great novel and by kite fliers who will be thrilled to see Afghan style kite fighting take a central part in the movie.

For kiters who are movie aficionados, this is not the first time that Director Marc Forster has used kites in his movies.  In the movie Finding Neverland,  Forster directed Johnny Depp, Kate Winslett and some talented young actors in the story of J. M. Barry, the author of Peter Pan.  An English arch top kite was prominently featured in a park scene within this movie. (See: Kites in the Movie "Finding Neverland".)

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Photo Credits: 

• Khaled Hosseini photo - Roger Williams University
  
• Street Scene, Kashgar, China - New York Times
  
• Marc Forster and Khaled Hosseini on location in Kashgar - New York Times
• Amir and Hassan Kite Running - International Herald Tribune
  

Time, it has been said, marches resolutely on and leaves a record of what has gone before if we are careful to observe. 

There are so many historical events over the course of time.  The most recent events and happenings are well recorded and documented but can still be open to varying interpretation.  The  more distant events are harder to trace and often do not have many validating or corroborating sources of information.  So it is with the history of the earth, of mankind, of cultures and nations, and of devices and inventions.

 Several years ago, sixteen to be exact, I set out to puzzle out for myself a credible timeline of kite history.  The purpose in my mind was simple: order the events and chronicle the people who had contributed to the development of the kite and used it in innovative and interesting ways.  A simple task, I was sure.

 Not so!  Here I am sixteen years later publishing for the first time my efforts at recording a brief, and hopefully useful, chronology of the kite.  I have postponed the publication of any of the timelines on this web site many times. I did this because I continued to find conflicting evidence about the order and timing of events.  Revision, checking more sources, update and more revision became an ongoing state of affairs. 

I believe that the timelines published here today are very accurate, but they are not infallible.  As with any historical effort covering a broad scope there is room for error even with the most thorough checking of facts having been carried out. 

I know that these timelines will need to be revised again and again as new information is brought forward and as conflicting evidence challenges details or dates.

I have published the timelines at this juncture because I believe in their accuracy.   I know that the scrutiny of kiters and people with a  deep interest in things historical will undoubtedly lead to challenges and the correction of possible errors.  I welcome your input, your questions, your dialogue and your sharing of factual evidence.  Only through such cooperative effort can a properly validated timeline of kite history be available for use by students in schools and for reference by kiters who would like to know more about the development of this amazing device, the kite.

To begin your journey through time and experience the chronicle of the kite, I invite you to visit the Best-Breezes Timeline of Kite History. 

Please contact me if you wish more information, have questions or can suggest some sources or evidence to improve the timeline.

Bob White - Hifliercanada - October 30, 2006 

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 Captain Jean-Luc Picard:

"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey.  It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived."

played by Patrick Stewart, from the film "Star Trek: Generations"