Lucknow Patangbaazi and the Lost Art of Nawabi Kite Flying

Patangbaazi and the Lost Art of Nawabi Kite Flying . Plenty of cities have history, heritage and culture. Lucknow has something layered over all of it, which the film calls fantasy. This is about "Patangbaazi", and about the world of baazis that once sat inside the city's tehzeeb alongside pigeon flying, cockfighting, quail fighting, verse duelling and riddle contests. It opens light, with the half-serious case that flying kites is good for you, easing the neck, helping with sugar, and working the whole body from the first small tugs to the climb up a tree after a lost one. It makes room for the women who flew too, among them Bashiran, young and still learning, who flew and fought exactly as the men in her neighbourhood did. Then the presenter is handed a kite and loses it almost at once, which makes the real point. Before anyone climbed a roof, the weather was read, the wind and the air assessed, and a decision taken about whether a proper fight was even possible. The ustad explains his own move, that when a young challenger pulls hard expecting a cut, he reverses everything and throws the line, so the boy cuts himself and never works out how. The history runs from the nawabs, who made it a pastime, to the ordinary people who turned it into a craft. Asaf-ud-Daula flew tukkal from a rooftop. In Shuja-ud-Daula's time the kites carried names, tukkal, makkad, aadam, azdaha, and the sizes had their own vocabulary, worked out by how many kites a full sheet of paper would yield, down to the smallest one a four year old holds when the habit begins. The first kite is credited to Mozi in China, and Marco Polo's travels carried word of it further. Kites appear across Thailand, Malaysia and Japan, used first for military signalling and reading weather. In India they turn up in Mughal miniatures, and Amir Khusrau built a riddle around one. The baazis faded as the nawabi era did. The kites are still up there. . Chapters: 00:00:00 Lucknow's Baazis and the City's Fantasy 00:01:50 Is Kite Flying Actually Good for You 00:03:30 Bashiran, and the Women Who Flew and Fought 00:04:04 The Presenter Tries, and Loses It Immediately 00:05:15 The Trick That Makes a Challenger Cut Himself 00:05:53 From the Nawabs' Pastime to a Real Craft 00:06:36 Kites With Names, Tukkal, Makkad, Azdaha 00:07:36 Where the First Kite Came From 00:08:42 Amir Khusrau's Riddle About a Kite 00:09:40 What Was Lost When the Nawabi Era Ended . About Jashn-e-Rekhta Jashn-e-Rekhta is the world’s largest cultural festival celebrating the beauty, depth, and living spirit of the Urdu language. Held annually, it brings together poets, musicians, writers, thinkers, and artists from across the world to create a space of poetry, music, conversations, and storytelling. From soul-stirring mushairas and spellbinding musical evenings to intimate dialogues and immersive cultural experiences, the festival is where language turns into emotion and heritage finds a contemporary voice. More than a festival, Jashn-e-Rekhta is a movement that keeps Urdu alive, relevant, and deeply connected across generations. . #lucknow #patangbaazi #kiteflying #lucknowculture #awadh #indianheritage #nawabiculture . About Rekhta Foundation: Rekhta Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation committed to preserving, promoting, and celebrating the Urdu language and its rich literary and cultural legacy. Through digital archives, learning platforms, publications, festivals, and community initiatives, the Foundation works to make Urdu accessible and meaningful for audiences worldwide. By bridging classical traditions with modern platforms and voices, Rekhta Foundation ensures that the language continues to inspire, connect, and evolve with time. . IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE © Rekhta Foundation. All rights reserved. Unauthorised downloading, clipping, re-uploading, or reuse of this content (audio/video/visuals) is strictly prohibited without written permission. . External Links: Website: https://rekhta.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jashnerekhtaofficial/ Rekhta Books: https://rekhtabooks.com/ Rekhta Learning: https://rekhtalearning.com/