Click to play videoAhmedabad: Makar Sankranti is one of the most awaited festivals in Gujarat and a large number of kite makers travel all the way from adjoining states to make money during this festival.
No wonder then that Ahmedabad is one of the largest producers of kites in the country. However, it's difficult to believe that the entire kite industry functions from the narrow bylanes of the walled city.
These bylanes make room for the region's most skilled kite makers, who sometimes travel all the way from adjoining states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Mohammad Shaikh from Jhansi is just one of the many who came to Gujarat four months ago to cash in on the feverish kite demand.
"12 members of our family have come from Uttar Pradesh and we spend around four months in a year making kites here," says Mohammad Yusuf Shaikh, a kite maker.
Every member of the Shaikh family, be it the 70-year-old grandma or this 6-year-old Naved, is involved in getting a little aspect of kite making right. "I love making kites," says Naved.
And like the Shaikhs, hundreds of Muslim kite-maker families arrive in Gujarat every year from places like Mathura, Rampur, and Allahabad. And thanks to brisk business, there's work for all.
"Every year, there are lots of people coming in from Uttar Pradesh," says Iqbal Mohammad Shaikh, a kite seller.
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