Kite Running

Kite running is the practice of running after drifting kites in the sky that have been cut loose in kite fighting. Kites are flown and fought in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, especially in the Indian subcontinent throughout the year and during kite flying festivals. In south America in Chile and Brazil, flown "volantines" or "papagaios" with "hilo curado" in Chile or "cerol" in Brazil, and try to fight or cut the others. The manja or the kite flying string that is used to fly these kites is coated with powdered glass. Kite flyers entangle the manja of their flying kites with each other and try to cut the string of the other by the pull or release method. The winner's kite remains flying while the loser's kite string is cut loose, drifting free with the wind until it falls to the ground. Kite running is the practice of running after these cut kites to try and capture them when they come down; typically the custom is that the person who captures a cut kite can keep it. Droves of people of all ages may run after a kite and try to capture it with the help of poles or broken off tree branches with which they try to entangle the loose string trailing with the kite. Running after and capturing these kites is often made more difficult when these drifting kites are taken long distances with the wind or fall atop trees, electric poles and houses over compound walls and fences, or in the middle of or across busy roads and railway lines. In cities and towns, the bigger and more expensive looking the kite, the more people can usually be seen running after it to try and capture it as their free prize.

Both kite runners and kite fighters die or endanger their lives because they run into the path of oncoming traffic and trains without looking down or fall from trees and buildings which they were trying to scale to get at kites that landed on top while gazing up and running after kites. They may walk around in the middle of congested towns and cities and while gazing up may be dangerously unaware of what is happening on the ground in their immediate surroundings causing injuries and collisions with traffic.

Kite running has taken place in a few books, most commonly reconized is in the book "The Kite Runner" written by Khaled Hosseini.