What is the story behind the broken kite?

This is a chapter from my fourth book called When hunger yearns

The broken kite by Hassan Voyeau

I had this idea. I would open the pen-up app and close my eyes and just draw random lines and then fill the random shapes formed with color. But what does my new art piece represent? I used Google lens and found that the closest match pointed to a gallery with a mixture of kites and vector art. Then it occured to me that it looks just like a broken kite. A kite that had gotten stuck in a tree and was pulled down but got broken and damaged in the process. It also kinda looks like a fish that got damaged too. Maybe it is a fish kite. I was reading about the history of the kite. The exact origin is unknown but it is believed that they were flown in China more than 1000 years ago. One suggestion is that a Chinese farmer tied a string to his hat to prevent it from flying off and that is how the first kite was born. In Japan they celebrate Children's Day with fish shaped kites called koinobori. Koi is a Carp type of fish. Legend has it that a Carp fish swam upstream to turn into a dragon. Because Carp fish can swim upstream they represent strength and courage. This has me thinking. What is the highest a kite could fly? According to the Guinness Book of World Records the highest kite was flown by Robert Moore over a sheep farm in Australia. The height reached was 16,009 feet.

I like this quote by Friedrich Nietzsche, "A broken kite teaches you more about the wind than a whole one ever could." Friedrich was a German philosopher. He started as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. I had no idea that philology was a thing before today. I read that a philologist is a type of linguist who studies the history of languages, especially by looking closely at literature. They are also known as collectors of words and their etymologies. I found another Friedrich quote. "The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly." I asked my friend Gemini to explain this quote to me. Gemini tells me that you should not be discouraged if others don't understand your ambitions. Keep striving for your goals. He goes on to caution that just because you have achieved more doesn't mean you should look down on others. I think everyone will experience the highs and lows of life. We learn ambition and humility in the process. One day we are flying high and one day we are the broken kite. Life is a test that is full of questions. We may ask why? We aim for the sky only to one day return to the ground when we say our last goodbye. The higher a kite flies, the more it feels the pull of the string. Even with great heights and ambitions, we are still connected to something that keeps us grounded.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wandering

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom I sit quietly with my thoughts in the middle of nowhere. I think of only the good. The rainy season is coming. The plants will be green like they should be. The flowers will be happy with the colors of thunder. The birds will dance at the sight of nature's growing abundance. The wind walks by with a smile on his face. The road home is winding. The smell of the ladies of the night plant echoes through the slumber of the night. The owl wants to know who sits here. The leaves have forgotten where they are going. They are content to just wander under the moonlight. The moon likes when we write poems about the moon. The moon snores loudly in tandum with the swaying of the clouds. The trees clap because it is breezy. Life should always be this easy. Words slowly drip from the leaves of contentment. The world of the bothersome we leave behind. Rivers become shivers. The night is cold. The mosquitos are bold. I hear the ocean sing about s
Read more

Mangoes

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom I am taking us on an epicurious journey. A sweet escape. A juicy reprieve. A mangolicious passage that is ripe for the picking. Who does not like mango? I do not know of a single person who does not like mango. If you do not like mango, are you even human? Mango is the most likable fruit in the world. Often referred to as the king of fruits. There are mango festivals that celebrate this great fellow. Right now in Trinidad I am seeing posts on facebook for the upcoming Mango Melee festival. I was curious and confused about the word melee. The dictionary has the meaning to be "a confused fight or scuffle" and "a confused crowd of people". The festival website says that the word "melee" has many meanings, the definition for our movement is a "shindig: a lively party, especially one celebrating something." Our use in this way locally might be a derivation it seems. I do not know if this is an exagge
Read more

Winds

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom Growing up in the tropics I got used to needing a fan on me at all times to keep cool. Only the rich could afford air conditioning when I was growing up. The fan breeze even with its humming was what sent me to sleep and kept the mosquitos away at night. My job was to clean the fans and even oil it when it needed to be oiled. Island breezes are a quintessential Caribbean experience. I remember basking in the very windy side of Pigeon Point beach. This made it my favorite beach in Tobago. I remember leaving the front and back doors open at the apartment I was staying in Tobago and allowing the cool Tobago breeze to fill the room while I slept. I remember experiencing kite flying in the savannah for Easter weekend. I remember driving through the mountains to Maracas with the winds hitting my face. I love the huge overhead fans at the Center of Excellence. Stormy and windy nights are not to be left out. Even though no one wants the damag
Read more

May

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom It is Wednesday the first of May. April showers bring May flowers. This has not been the case (at least this year) in Trinidad. There were hardly any April showers. We are on the lookout for May showers. This is my birthday month. I was supposed to start this book in May but I got a head start in April and it did not disappoint me. Below are what I initially started to call affirmations. My friend Gemini tells me that affirmations do not typically begin with the word "may". Affirmations aim for a stronger tone of conviction like "we will". He tells me that ultimately, the most important thing is to find affirmations that resonate with you and feel empowering. So, if "may" affirmations work for you, go for it! I guess these are intentions more than affirmations. They represent hopes and aspirations. These are powerful statements of what we desire to experience or bring into our life. They set the tone and
Read more

How can you make money online in Trinidad and Tobago?

This is a common question. Maybe you are now out of school. Maybe you are looking for a side hustle. Trinidad and Tobago has good internet infrastructure and good options for high speed broadband internet and mobile internet. We have cheap electricity. We have free education. We have no taxes on computer equipment. We have an enabling environment for persons who want to make money. One question that will arise as you make plans for your hustle is how do you accept payments online? Services like Paypal are not officially supported in Trinidad. Wipay is an alternative that was started in Trinidad. If you are getting paid through Youtube and adsense you can have a check mailed to you. If you are working for a remote employer you can have them wire transfer your salary. If you are advertising your services online, it helps to have a strong online presence. Make it easy for potential clients to find you and interact with you. There are freelance services marketplaces like Fiverr. There are
Read more