Uttarayan’ (aka Makar Sankranti) is the popular kite flying festival of North India. The season starts in the last week of December and ends on January 14th.

Use of Chinese made nylon threads to fly kites during this festival has substantially increased over last couple of years. These threads are sharp, tough to break and not biodegradable. Once discarded, these threads become bird traps on trees, bushes and the surroundings forever.

To sensitise people to this new reality, we created installations in schools and public places for Karuna, an animal rights organisation. The words ‘Happy kite flying day’ was written using pictures of birds injured or killed in nylon bird traps, as documented by Karuna volunteers. A panel next to the installation let people read about the issue and how they can help.

The work attempted to stop kids and kite flying enthusiasts from using these threads to fly kites. The installations drew big crowds and even kite-lovers were shocked to learn about this new reality. The animal rescue unit of Karuna received many calls during this campaign. And hundreds of birds were rescued and treated during this year’s kite flying season. A 40% drop in sales of nylon threads was reported this season.