Ram Patang Udaipur
Every summer, when I was a kid, we visited our Nani’s place in Udaipur, where patang Bazi (kite flying) was popular.
At one such visit, I was sitting on the terrace, and while looking at the sky, I asked my cousin brother a question,” brother, how do you fly a kite? after which he started laughing. I got offended, being a 7-year-old child, as that was a very general question for me. I went to my Nana’s room and complained about them, but the problem was he also started laughing. He held my finger and asked me to come with him.
He took me to a shop which is very near to his house. I read a hoarding ” Ram Patang” and inquired my Nana about it. He explained everything to me about the shop till we got there. He told me that “Ram Patang” is owned by Vivek Sharma and was established by his great grandfather named Ramkishan. It is more than 100 years old and is very popular among the localities. They have run their shop for the whole year and have acquired a significant position in wholesale and retail businesses. He also told me about the shop’s address in front of police chowki, Delhi Gate. It is trendy in nearby cities like Nathdwara, Bhindar, Kanor, Dariba e.t.c.
Finally, after hearing its history and background, I reached the shop. There were many varieties of kites, and they all came in different shapes, themes, colours and sizes wherein we ended up buying five kites for each of my cousins. I asked the same question from the owner, “How do you fly a kite,” and returned home with an incomplete answer.
