Kai Po Che: At 54, Bhavna Mehta soars high with her kites!

Ahmedabad— In India, little girls play with dolls and boys fly kites! Husbands fly kites while wives cheer them from behind holding the winch (charkhi). But she defied the conservative mindset; took charge of the thread and kite herself, determined to soar high. Meet Bhavna Shailesh Mehta, India's first female internationally acclaimed kite flyer, designer as well as exporter. With many national and international awards to her credit, Bhavna is soaring high with her kites.

Makar Sakranti is around and Indians, specially Gujaratis rejoice the tradition of kite flying.

The Gujrat sky is full of million kites of all shapes, colors and sizes. If one can spot an unusually designed high flying kite with a controlled deftness and expertise, it is surely being flown by Bhavna. In a gesture to honor her passion and dedication of 3 decades, fellow kite flyers made a special kite with her picture on it which Bhavna claims to be the best surprise gift she has ever received.

Speaking to The Mooknayak about her passion and the interesting transformation from a craft teacher to an international kite flyer Bhavna narrates it at length with a child-like happiness and enthusiasm.

"My first hand experience with Kites was in 1992 after my marriage to Shailesh, my husband who himself is a kite enthusiast. In the initial days of our marriage, remember I could not hold the 'charkhi' properly and his kite was snapped by an opponent. I was embarrassed when Shailesh gave an angry glare", Bhavna laughs loudly reminiscing the old days. She gradually learned the art from her husband and even started loving it. But it dawned on her as a vocation when her son Deep who grew up to be a great kite enthusiast encouraged her to fly kites in public.

"My stint with the Kites as a professional began in 2008 when I first participated in the 18th International Kite Festival. This was followed by multiple successive years of being awarded the first prize in the subsequent festivals. I was also privileged to be titled as the First Independent Lady Kite Flyer of India" Bhavna said.

This passion led her to represent India and gave her international platforms to display her kited in museums of many countries. On the occasion of 70 years of friendship between India and Indonesia, Bhavna designed a kite named 'Ramayana-Mahabharata' commemorating the cultures of both nations. She is winner of many awards including one for 'Best Artistic Kite' in UK. She designs kites on various themes including Ragas, Mythology, Animal and Bird kingdom etc.

Kite Flying a hobby, not a sport

Bhavna regrets the fact that In India kite flying is yet pursued as a passion and not a sport. Kite manufacturing is a big business in India with hundreds of dedicated kite flyers who spend hours in practicing but there is no encouragement to them nor they can make a livelihood of this simply as a hobby. She also says that when she began flying kites there were not many female flyers but slowly their numbers is increasing. Bhavna is often invited by kite flying associations and clubs throughout the country where she takes delight in inspiring others and teaching them the nitty gritty of the art. Apart from kite flying, Bhavna is a jewellery designer, candle maker and a great chef too.

Never stop learning, it is fun

Bhavna says, "My interests in creative fields and the insatiable hunger to learn took me to factories, exhibitions, training colleges and made me interact with experts and professionals from different fields. My visits to all these places enticed me to enroll, learn and train myself formally in many fields like handicrafts and cooking. Today this strong woman runs cookery classes and has done television shows too. Her NGO works to train women in various arts & skills to make them entrepreneurs. Her son Deep is a software developer in USA while her daughter Dipti is an expert in animation and VFX.