A young man was in pain. A vertical crack had developed through the enamel of his lower left canine, exposing the dentine tubules. The tooth hurt really badly and it drove him crazy; every folk cure failed, his fervent prayers (to Mother Goddess?) were unanswered – so his mother (who else?) finally took him to … Read more
Winter is hard to kiters. It’s cold. And it’s wet. And the sun disappears at 4 PM. India comes to help, and we spend a sizeable chunk of the darkest month, January, in hot and sunny Gujarat (and other fantastic places). But winter means waiting. Waiting for the sun, for the first yellow flowers, for … Read more
A hill – a defensive position par excellence. A fierce wind. A grove of hungry trees. Who in their right mind would go to fly a kite from a steep hill deep inside a valley, where the winds are blowing from all directions all at once? Well, we did. Because there is a church on … Read more
This is written, at list partially, in response to a question Paul Burton posted in a kite aerial photography group: “(…) taking pictures on auto seems ok in bright light but a little less good in dull cloudy situations. Can anyone recommend some settings for better pictures in the low light, many thanks …” There … Read more
As we told you in the previous article, IKF Mangalore 2025 was organised by kite flyers – the illustrious TeamMangalore India. Organising a kite festival is hard … Once a budget is set, the balancing begins. On one hand you have the kite flyers, on the other the sponsors and the crowds. If the sponsors’ … Read more
Why us? The Mangalore kite team invited a truckload of kite legends to their festival. Kosta. Bob. Andreas. Andres. Antonio. Axel. Jan. Claire and Dave. Sandra and Guilherme. Team Magnetik from Greece. Raymond, who drove his bike all the way down from Mumbai. The trio of fantastic Indonesians. And the Indian masters: Hanna, Rauf, Ashok, … Read more
Before we start with this, a celebration is in order: this is the 100th article on our new site. Yay! 🪁 🍾 🥂 🎉 🥳 🪁 The first one was published on July 17, 2022, just after the IKF Slovenia in Murska Sobota. Hurray to us, now let’s begin. While half of KAP Jasa were … Read more
A huge problem the author had with this piece: how to write it without veering into pathos? When it became clear it is impossible, it was a bit easier. How could one write about friends and not get emotional? On the first night people from all over the world were dropping in one by one … Read more
“It’s the alternator.” These are not the words you want to hear in the middle of the night on a remote stretch of a highway near Middle of Nowhere, Gujarat. “Please sir, help – push the bus off the road, ok?” So we did – it wasn’t even our bus, as Manoj would never let … Read more
The weather forecast was perfect. The wind direction was perfect, leading the kite directly over a remote and elusive target. The wind forecast was beyond perfect – so much we packed the Royal 69 sled, as there were threats of gusts over 60 km/h. But alas, the meteorologists screwed us yet again. The wind never … Read more