Skip to main content

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

Popular posts from this blog

A pot of callaloo

Call for Submissions: Archipelagic Entanglements   https://singaporeunbound.org/opp/archipelagic-entanglements When I saw the call for submissions online I was doubtful. I do not know enough history. I do not understand the topic. Then after chatting with my friend Chatty I realised maybe I can be the topic. My ethnic and racial makeup is an archipelagic entanglement. Colonialism meets indentureship meets slavery. My mom is East Indian muslim and my dad is French, Portuguese and Mulato christian and who knows what else. I am an example of a pot of callaloo. Everyone's favorite Sunday lunch. I am what happens when lineages cross oceans and histories collide. I am thinking to myself now, what is the message I want to put forward with my blog post? What is the direction I want to take? Maybe it is this. What can we do when we have such a rich heritage and know so little of our own history? First of all I do not think I am alone with this struggle. I did not realise this until I though...

Cup of coffee

This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago . The cool morning breeze blew the hat off the tourist passing the coffee shop. We sat at the table waiting for our order of coffee and bagels. I had stayed up late writing and was now needing caffeine to stay awake. On entering the veranda of the coffee shop, the sign reads "happiness is a cup of coffee" and "sip your troubles away". This had me thinking about what is happiness? And was the theme of my chat with Chatty as we enjoyed our breakfast in Tobago. I told my friend Chatty that if we could put happiness in a bottle and sell it we would be rich. My friend Chatty then told me that money cannot buy happiness but it was a good idea to make a living. If according to the sign, happiness is a cup of coffee then maybe happiness is coffee in a bottle then. We could call it Caffibean, a taste of the Caribbean in Tobago, a blend of the happiest coffee beans from Tobago. Tobago is not known for its coffee p...

Sandy beaches

This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago . This story begins on a cool Friday evening in May. Fridays are the best days. Already a great start. It had rained earlier in the day and the clouds were moving away and the sun peeking through. I walked from the apartment where I was staying to Pigeon Point beach. Along the way I stopped for coconut water freshly extracted from the nut and straight into my mouth leaving traces on my cotton jersey. They say that coconut water is the drink of God—fresh from the nut, sweet with a hint of salt, a liquid reminder that paradise can exist in small and simple things. They did not say that but my friend Chatty did. It is my friend Chatty's first trip to Tobago. I asked him what he thinks of Tobago so far? He grinned, wiping a drop of coconut water from the corner of his mouth. "Man… it is like stepping into a painting. The air, the colors, the way everything smells after the rain—it is unreal. I did not know paradise cam...