When he was snubbed by an American kite-flyer at an international kite festival, Ashok Shah of Dahanu made up his mind to create high-tech kites by himself.
“After I created my first fancy kite in 1993, the international kiting community noticed me and invited me for the international kite festival at Ahmedabad in 1994,” said Shah.
During the festival, Shah was awed by the variety of colourful kites. “I was a bit tense and hesitated to fly my kite, since it was the smallest and not as hi-tech as the other kites in the festival. I had approached an American participant to know more about making hi-tech kites. But he refused to talk. I made up my mind and decided to participate in the festival with equally hi-tech kites after three years.”
Once back in Dahanu, Shah started collecting information on kite-making from all over the world. After three years of hard work, he came up with 200 different kite designs, from an inch-long one to India’s longest kite — 200 ft high and weighing seven kg.
Shah also created the first diamond-studded kite in the world, apart from kites of various shapes, sizes and dimensions. He won the first prize at the international kite festival held at Ahmedabad in January last year.
Since 1994, Mumbai has been appearing on the map of international kite festivals after he started participating in them.
For Shah, the only participant from Maharashtra at the international kite festival, what started as a demand by his children for different kites, has today become a passion.
