Jan 14, 2011, 06.44am IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Class-VIII-girls-vow-not-to-fly-kites/articleshow/7281358.cms
AHMEDABAD: A group of seven girls studying in class VIII of Sharda Mandir School have decided not to fly kites on Uttarayan so as not to hurt any birds during the festival. They have decided to head to Thol bird sanctuary instead so that their parents too do not succumb to the lure of joining in the festivities.
A video presentation by an NGO, working for bird welfare — on the kind of serious injuries inflicted on avians including kites, flamingoes and even eagles by the sharp manja (thread ), used to fly the kites — is the reason behind their decision.
"I love kite-flying, especially with my father who is an avid kite-flyer. But after seeing the pictures of injured birds, I decided not to fly kites. I have even persuaded my father not to", said Aneri.
Aneri is joined by her friends Dhruva Shah, Heena Shukla, Megha Ranpura, Kalgi Shah, Aayushi Shah and Maitri Trivedi. The girls have decided to take their parents to Thol. "It would be a departure from the traditional festivities as we used to hire cooks to feed the huge number of kite enthusiasts who used to gather at our terrace to fly kites. But we need to give support to good initiatives of our children. So, Thol bird sanctuary it would be", said Ashish Patel, Aneri's father.
