Makar Sankranti 2023: This Bandra kite-maker carries on his family’s legacy
Updated On: 13 January, 2023 06:11 PM IST | Mumbai | Nascimento Pinto
Flying kites is synonymous with the winter harvest festival and an activity that is enjoyed by one and all during the day. Ahmed Qazi has been running his family business of making kites since 1979 and visibly enjoys every aspect of it including making them himself. Almost 50 years later after his grandfather set up shop, Qazi intends to carry on
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Ahmed Qazi`s grandfather started making and selling kites in 1952 in Bandra. Ever since then his family has continued the business that even gives kites for Bollywood films. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto/Mid-day
Ahmed Qazi has a child-like enthusiasm when talking about kites ahead of Makar Sankranti. His face becomes as colourful as the kites he sells every day. “My name is Ahmed, but people call me ‘Ahmedbhai Patangwala’,” shares a jovial Qazi. The 64-year-old has been in the kite making and selling business since 1979, almost 27 years after his grandfather started Bharat Kites in Mumbai’s ‘Queen of Suburbs’ just off Lucky Restaurant near the traffic signal, a few metres away from Bandra West railway station. He continues, “My grandfather was passionate about kites and loved flying them. He came to Mumbai in 1930 from Uttar Pradesh and started the business in 1952 and we have been in this business since then. We are the oldest kite shop in this neighbourhood. After him, my father took over and then my elder brother before I joined it and have been a part of it since then.”
Sending kites overseas and for Bollywood
The Qazi family has been in the kite-making and selling business for close to 70 years and that has earned them quite some reputation. Today, they go as ‘Lucky Bharat Kite’, only because the Bandra resident says it has a ring to it. Their popularity is such that the kites of different sizes don’t get transported only in India but also outside of it. “My kites go to different parts of India and abroad including Dubai and Singapore, where it has just gone this time. A lot of Gujaratis from there ask for it every year,” shares Qazi. We met him in the morning but even as early as 10 am, he has a steady stream of visitors who come for kites, and ‘maanjas’ that hold and help fly the kite. This year, the business has picked up more than the last two years, and last Sunday was proof for him as it saw a lot of in-person sales, especially because people had a holiday.
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