Fly Like A Kite

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Matariki Kite Festival

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Fly Like A Kite
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Fly aloft like a kite
Soar high and higher still
Ecstatic and bouncy with delight
Walk dreamily on clouds
Enthrall viewers on the ground

Probe uncertain realms
Be coaxed by gentle wind
To never give up half-way through

Find your strength, have faith
That your string is in reliable hands
Of that fond player, who made you fly
Who carefully tuned your first leap forth
Till you found your own balance

 Fly high like a kite
Just don’t fall like one
Onlookers can be very unforgiving

~~~~

© 2016-17 Alka Girdhar.

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22 thoughts on “Fly Like A Kite”

  2. Lovely poem, Alka!
    Kites do give a positive message with their vibrant colors and various shapes…how truly symbolic they are of our lives…full of joy, exhilaration…with ups and downs…rising high and falling at times! Though there is little connection with the story but this poem reminds me of Ruskin Bond’s nostalgic story ‘The Kite Maker,’ who loses his livelihood because children were influenced by modern games…conveying the subtle message of forgotten old charms!
    Happy Makar Sankranti!

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    • Thanks Balroop! Kites are indeed like our lives. And if we think of it, all kites are meant to be beautiful in their colors and shapes as well as purpose.
      Thanks for sharing this story. It makes so much sense in the modern digital world context. Ruskin Band is a great writer with unique style and themes. I had read the title ‘The Kite Flyer’ but didn’t know the exact story. Inspires me to read his works.
      Happy Makar Sankranti and Happy Lohri to you too!

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  5. Such a thoughtful interpretation of what it means to be a kite. Kites fly high, and they can go round and round and twist and turn when the wind blows. In a sense, life is like that, full of ups and downs, the good with the bad, the happy with the sad. I like how you suggest the wind the the guiding force for the kite when it is floating about uncertainly amongst the clouds. Referring to the every day world again, often we journey through chapter after chapter not just by ourselves but we get help from others along the way. That is, to reach our goals and feel on top of the world, often others around play a part as well.

    Very interesting choice of words as the last line. Sounds rather ominous. But it is so true. When we fall, sometimes others might not want to lend a helping hand. It’s human nature to look out for our ownselves first or if we fall because of our own ego, no surprise others will turn the other way. Another great poem, Alka. Best wishes for the year.

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    • Thanks Mabel! You compared it well too. Kites are like that. And just as we wonder what it would be like to be a bird, kites too provoke similar feelings. They are inanimate objects but seem to have a life given to them by the kite flyer, while the wind too controls their flow. Just like it is with us living beings, others play a role all along. Here, with the kite as also with us, the initial kick sets us rolling and we also need a guiding force till at least a particular point before we fly on confidently on our own and go with the flow.
      You noticed the last line 🙂 Some kites are not strong enough. Others are cut short by competing kites, and then there are others who face adverse weather or circumstances bringing their fall …but there is no reason why they cannot rise again, unless they are fully torn by some thorns.
      Wish you too a great year ahead!

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  6. What a lovely way to present the life’s experience?
    A metaphor, couldn’t have been a better one starting the new year and also looking at life afresh. In my childhood, I have always enjoyed flying kites and I have experienced the joy and ecstasy that comes when manage to get the kite up and swing in the sky, when we get the control and able to maneuver with the wind, and the way see our thoughts flying with the kite. There is another side of the same story…

    Indeed it is not easy as it appears to the onlooker standing and enjoying the colorful floats in the backdrop of clear blue sky. There are days when the support of wind is missing, it is frustrating and we try but fail miserly, there are something which nature controls and we have to accept when that control of nature is outside our purview. It is not always an open place, there are others flying in the same space and there is every likelihood that we may encounter others who are aggressive and wants to fight and so their supremacy they want to maintain and there are no rules and there are no protection, the fight is on and in the bargain someone has to lose and someone has to gain…it mirrors every bit of our life and living…

    Alka, let the year fly high for you and such colorful kites make their landing in your house presenting surprise after surprise.
    😀

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    • Thank you Nihar! You seem to have enjoyed the whole process of kite flying during your childhood. From the beginning to the end, there is a strategy to its successful flying. The onlookers here, as in life, are just enjoying the whole show. They like the thrill of seeing a rising kite and that’s but natural. When the same well-risen kite falls they lose interest in it very quickly.
      That’s what I meant.
      You explained it all very well…the conditions faced by a kite or a kite flyer …like lack of space, aggressive competitors, no rules, no protection. And like our lives, this game becomes a bargain…lose some gain some.
      I reciprocate your wishes for the new year. In my house there have been surprises the whole of last year and I’m sure this year will be no exception. That’s life 🙂

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      • Yes Alka, I did, it was nostalgic to read through the lovely poem of yours…kites has always been fascinating to me and the way it takes us into the world of clear blue sky and it lifts our mood and makes feel flying high with the kite…isn’t we all deep with have the desire fly like a bird and see the world from the top and get that urge for ultimate freedom within us to cherish the beauty of the vast skyline. In fact last week we had the kite festival here in major cities of India and there were people from Singapore had flied down to Hyderabad and displayed some magical flying techniques and it was awesome.
        So nice to hear that last year you had houseful of surprise and let that saga of joy and pleasant surprises keep growing in multiple this year…
        Indeed that’s life where we have so much experience and enjoy, it is that we get caught in wilderness of daily juggernaut.
        😀

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