"Having Said That 4 : Air War Over Ason Tole":
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When down pour gradually withers away and Monsoon Lady finally stops her tantrums, the fall brings new rejuvenation to wet grounds and muddy streets of Kathmandu. Perhaps, our ancestors, observing this very fact year after year, decided to celebrate this season of the year with all the “Pujas” and all the “Bhoj”. Dashai brings joy to the kids, happiness to students and bit of financial stress to the bread earners. Nevertheless, Dashai brings the much-needed change in Life.

Growing up in Kathmandu, I saw Dashai with many meanings. One month of freedom from School, new line of clothes to show off to friends, Khaski Ko Masu to fill my carnivorous appetite and most importantly full indulgence and satisfaction of Kite flying.

Now come to think about Kite Flying, I have been a hardcore amateur of this sport from the day I knew how not to urinate in my pants. But I have to say, the intensity of this sport did not attend climax until I was in my fifth grade. Living in one of the Toles (Kel Tole is where I grew up mostly) with strong background and popularity of Kite flying, made me even more hardcore. I still remember the time when I used to come home from School and hang out with my Tole Buddies and talk about Kites and Kites exclusively. For us, flying Kites was not just a sport but it was full fledge battle and we walked that extra mile to cover all the bases so that we got the best weapons for the war. Yes, flying Kites in Ason Tole was a war, far more interesting and intense than the air war of Desert storm.

I still remember the time when I used to rush home from school, toss my bag in one corner, wear my favorite shorts and Batman T-shirt and sliding Payal Slippers quickly run down to my “Chok” where all my nose running buddies would be waiting for me. We would get a good wooden “Lataie” and “Chain” brand flying thread. Now back then “Chain” brand thread was the best money could buy. Then we would prepare some “Majha” which is basically made of highly concentrated starch, some fine powdered glass from crushed light bulbs and some Aloe to enhance slipperiness quality of the Majha. So after heating this mix to the right consistency, one would be designated as the “Roller”, another the “Releaser” and the third as the “Majha” applicator. The Roller would roll the “Lataie” in about 20 rpm (rotation per minute), the “Majha” applicator will hold the Majha mix in one hand with the thread passing by through the middle and in the other hand he would hold some more fine glass powder. This way the Majha will be applied first and once wet the thread would be subjected to glass powder which will stick to the thread. The Releaser will be there releasing the thread at the synchronizing pace of 20 rpm. Once the Majha is applied, we would dry the thread by either using two poles in the Chok or by flying a kite and drying it in the air.

On the D-Day, which lasted until the end of Dashai, we would get dozen or so Kites of different patterns from a Kite Dealer in Ason. My favorite is the “Dariwala” or the breaded one. We would go to the rooftop of the tallest house belonging to one of our friends. Get a Sanyo Stereo and would start the party/war from 11pm onwards. We would blast “Beat it” number from Michael Jackson and we would also have our sisters and cousins as cheerleaders. “Chait”… “Chait”… “Chait” would be the word that we would repeat all day long. There would be thousands and thousands of Kites rotating clockwise and anti-clockwise in the skies of Ason. And you would see people in almost every rooftop playing their Stereos and blasting their favorites, flying their prides. We would forget about everything that concerned us in our day to day life, like the school, homework, marbles that were won, lost or credited, candy wrappers that were lost, stolen, owned or borrowed. We would forget about everything. Twice I fell off from my rooftop flying Kite, but let me tell you nothing stopped me from enjoying the sport of flying Kite. My life was Kite, Kite was my life for the whole month. Relations between friends were broken due to Kites, enemies were made due to Kites and friends were created due to Kites. Lot of us lost weight due to stress related to Kite flying. One would think in Dashai one would gain lot of pounds because there is so much food lying around. On the contrary, we went through what is called “Appetite Suppression Disorder from Kite Anxiety” or ASDKA syndrome.

So this time around the year, even after many years of abstaining from Kite flying, I get really emotional. Childhood memories are what they are – memories. But if I could do this all over again I would. But instead, I worry about my I-20, W-40, H-4 and B-1. Instead I worry about my social security, my wife’s maternity and baby’s maturity.

But having said all that, given the fact that Life is one way street, as long as my gray matter works adequately, I will cherish my days with Kites, Dashai in Kathmandu and my time with all my Tole buddies.