Basant, at the start of spring, was kite day in Punjab, and Lahore's Basant was among the largest kite festivals in the world. Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala all had their own.
The kite is paper on a bamboo frame. The contest is cutting the other man's line, and the line is dor, cotton thread coated with rice paste and powdered glass, prepared by specialists who ran it between poles in the street.
Chinese synthetic line and metallic thread changed it into something dangerous. The line does not break, conducts electricity, and cuts throats. Deaths of motorcyclists and of children, and power outages, are annual.
Lahore banned Basant in 2005 after a series of deaths. Indian states have banned synthetic and glass-coated line with limited effect.
A festival that was universal in Punjabi cities for centuries is now either banned or regulated on both sides of the border, and the reason is a change in the material of the string.
Basant is the kite day and the sky over the towns fills for one afternoon. The competition is cutting, not flying, and the string is what does it.
The dor is coated with rice paste and powdered glass, prepared on rooftops over days. The synthetic string that replaced it does not break and cuts people, and it has been banned repeatedly on both sides.
Lahore's Basant was suspended in 2005 after deaths and has been restored and suspended again since. It was the largest kite festival anywhere.