MOST of today’s children have suddenly given up on making a kite — a ‘caddy-ole-punch’ to be more precise.
I am talking about a kite made out of a school book page, a few pointers from a pointer broom, bits and pieces of thread or twine, a balla (piece of round wood) and cloth for the tail, to which a razor blade is tied. In my childhood days, we used to make ‘caddy-ole-punch’ — as we called it — way before Easter, and would spend countless hours raiding the neighbour’s gamma tree to get paste to complete our kites.
There used to be a time when we would form ourselves into groups and assist each other to complete our kites, after which we would take to the nearest field or open space to fly; but when it fell into a pool of water and got soaked, the process of rebuilding a kite would start all over again.
In those days, we used to be so engrossed in kite-making that we hardly had time for mischief, except for pilfering gamma from the trees of the neighbours to use as paste, and to rip pages from our school books to make kites.
‘Caddy-ole-punch’ was the kite of the day back then because, for several reasons, many of us were not so privileged to purchase a ready-made kite, the ones with the bright colours and so many stars pasted on them; and I remember they were huge, with fancy frills and all.
Back then, when you had a kite like that, you were considered ‘rich’, since most children those days made their own kites. And it was often a ‘family thing’, in which fathers would sit with their children and make kites from scratch for days at a time.
Nowadays, many parents simply buy a ready-made kite for a few thousand dollars and hand it to their children for the Easter season.
I feel that the season has lost its true merit and significance, and has become purely materialistic now.
The simple joys of making a ‘caddy-ole-punch’ have died a sudden death; children these days are hardly observed making any kite whatsoever, and parents seemingly prefer to just buy a kite of their children’s choice.
I expect this year will be no different, since there is a variety to chose from — all sizes, colours and shapes line the streets of the city in downtown Georgetown, where kite vending is prevalent this time of the year.
Nevertheless, the ‘caddy-ole-punch’ is still my favourite, and even now I can still make one, and I might just do that this year.