Kite flying in Hyderabad, a photo from Andhra Pradesh, South

Photographer's Note

I can't say much about this photo. I have no memory of taking it, but I know it's from somewhere in Hyderabad, one of India's largest cities.

Today it is one of the centers of India's hi-tech industry, but in 1987 I was mainly impressed by the many grand public buildings from the days when the princely state of Hyderabad enjoyed a certain level of independence during British colonial rule.

In the colonial days up to 1947 hundreds of small areas of India had a status of vassal states, run by local leaders in an alliance with the British colonial power. The largest and most important of these states was Hyderabad, which from 1724 had been ruled by a royal dynasty whose leader was known as the Nizam.

After Indian independence on 15 August 1947 Hyderabad managed to keep its separate status until September 1948, when it was invaded by Indian troops and forced to join India.

A successful communist uprising in the Telangana region and fears that the Muslim Nizam would merge Hyderabad with Pakistan, rather than with India, prompted the government in New Delhi to act.

In my diary from my visit in October 1987 I noted that I saw a few slummy areas (maybe this was one of them), but I paid more attention to the many magnificent buildings from the days of the Nizam. I noted that Hyderabad generally looked much cleaner and tidier than Calcutta, where I had started the journey.

However, I didn't have much interest in wasting expensive and rare Kodachrome photos on the magnificent palaces. I was more keen on capturing scenes of daily life like in today's photo.

There is another totally nothing special scene of daily life in the WS. Both photos were scanned from precious Kodachrome slides.

ikeharel, Fis2, PaulVDV, Royaldevon, pierrefonds, jean113, jhm, ktanska, COSTANTINO, alvaraalto, ChrisJ, adramad, clic has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ikeharel (106433) 2021-01-22 0:40

Hello Gert,
A nice moment with the children playing at a high point over the humble dwellings area.
Not much of HighTech neighborhood back than, still kids find joy in what they have.
Have a nice friday,
Ike

pajaran (103781) 2021-01-22 0:59

Pozdrav.
Lepo mesto i trenutak sa decom, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom i dobrim tekstom.
Dobar rad sa lepom fotografijom u radionici.
Deca uzivaju i igri i pustanju zmaja.
Lepa fotografija i uhvaceni trenutak.
Zelim vam lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje za vikend.
Paja.

Fis2 (156870) 2021-01-22 1:30

Witaj Gert my neighbour today :)!
Another curious pictures from daily life.
I like frames, colors and sharpness.
Good reportage work.
Well done.
Warm regards.
Krzysztof

PaulVDV (55593) 2021-01-22 2:21

Hello Gert,
In the WS we find a pretty scene with the flowers for the garlands, a scene I also often enjoyed seeing in different places in India.
Several times I was surprised that kite flying was so popular in different countries in Asia. Perhaps because it is a pleasant pastime for children that is possible everywhere with a little wind and also quite inexpensive.
These children are well dressed, but all barefoot.
I didn't know the history of Hyderabad and its separate status. Imagine that currently there would still be a separate small country within the gigantic India.
I think I'd enjoy visiting the many palaces.
Best regards, Paul

Royaldevon (76832) 2021-01-22 3:21

Hello Gert,

There is no doubt that children love to fly kites. The same scene could be witnessed on English beaches where children would be trying to use the wind to lift their home made kites into the air. The biggest fun was making the tail, a series of coloured bows!
This is a delightful scene. It shows the children all deeply involved and having the sense to use the hillside, where the wind would be stronger.
Your photograph is nicely composed with the tallest, kite-flying child making a strong focal point and his kite, nearly forming a diagonal.

I was amazed at the number of flower heads that were being emptied, in your w/s. I think they are marigolds and their bright colours would make eye-catching garlands.

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

pierrefonds (104558) 2021-01-22 4:40

Hi Gert,

You have captured well the action of the children. The point of view is showing the details of the buildings and of the kite. The light is enhancing the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

Silvio1953 (207145) 2021-01-22 4:56

Ciao Gert, nice scene with ute boys, wonderful colors, splendid lihght and excellent clarity, very well done, my friend, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

jean113 (22657) 2021-01-22 9:03

Hello Gert, an activity familiar with children across the world.
It’s a lovely shot with the children all concentrating on the task of flying their kite.
The children are well dressed even if they are barefoot.
I like that the kite is suspended in the air, frozen in time.
I wonder if the little boy on the left managed to fly his kite.
In your workshop picture, the flowers are marigolds , as Beverley identified. It’s an interesting picture.
Kind regards, Jean.

jhm (204077) 2021-01-22 9:56

Hello Gert,

We get a nice panorama view about the group playing children.
And not the elitaire buildings of the rich man.
This care for depth and perspective
Sharpness and colours are nice.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice evening,
John

jmdias (103992) 2021-01-22 10:38

gert

I select two scenes with kites in my town to post here, mine are so rich if compared with this one, but memories of my childhood would be similar with this indian scenery. in the last years boys are using ground glass to put in the lines and make battles in the sky and many people in motorcycles are having their necks cut because this, sometimes they kill someone or kill an animal..

take care

jorge

Tue (83106) 2021-01-22 11:02

Hej Gert,
Meget har vist ændret sig siden dengang nu hvor byen har udviklet sig til et teknologicenter. Måske arbejder et af disse børn nu i et af de store firmaer. Du fangede dem meget godt deres drage foran træerne.
Lars

ktanska (40551) 2021-01-22 11:18

Hej Gert,
Quite wonderful daily life image from over three decades ago. All the kids are well placed around this frame. And the place is nice on a little hill. The kite is well positioned, so that you were able to include it too.
Kari

lousat (130709) 2021-01-22 14:04

Hi Gert,a rather complicated story for this city which has therefore preserved something different and particular compared to other Indian cities, and has now developed as the American Silicon Valley. The main scene is very nice and shows a simple way to have fun among the boys. The WS scene is very beautiful, contrary to what others have said, the flowers are tagetes, a genus of annual or perennial, mostly herbaceous plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Have a nice weekend and thanks,Luciano

ifege (33729) 2021-01-22 17:20

Hi Gert
A good but very different pair from Hyderabad. The little kids look like they just get to watch and not fly the kites.
cheers
Ian

COSTANTINO (105083) 2021-01-22 23:24

Hello dear friend and have a nice day
and a happy weekend
I Love photos of this kind..
it is a photo bringing memories
from my childhood....
all the children act accordingly
to their age
regards
Costantino

emka (153358) 2021-01-23 0:00

Hellon Gert,
Nice scene from Hyderabad. This seems a slum area but the children are very neatly dressed, they ahve clean colourdful dresses. In the old times, one had to be very careful about the pictures, not to waste the precious and expensive Kodachrome films. To register more, I took video, it was much cheaper. But the result is that from my early trips to South America and Asia I have very few photos and movies are difficult to see. I have some photos from Hyderabad and video from 2004, but I doubt if you would be interested.
have a nice weekend. I have two more days of quarantine
Malgo

alvaraalto (42410) 2021-01-23 3:02

Hello Gert,
Nowadays there is no obstacle to taking hundreds of photos in a day, but in the days of film rolls we had to make choices by the limited number of photos on a film roll.
Fortunately, when photographing you also had sufficient interest in the transient one-off scene in addition to the longer-standing beauty of buildings.
This allows us to enjoy 2 interesting scenes from 1987 again.
Excellent work
Have a good weekend, groet Rob

ChrisJ (161262) 2021-01-23 3:21

Hello Gert,

A great daily life scene of the children enjoying the simple pleasure of kite flying. Excellent use of a shallow dof with good sharpness. Tfs!

GyurMaster (21783) 2021-01-23 11:10

Dear Gert,

Another excellent photo, which would have worked well with the characteristic yellow frame. ;-) It is really well, composed and time. I also like that you used relatively open aperture, so the bg. is mildly blurred. The Koda didn't fail you this time too: the vivid reds in the girl's hair and the guys pants are phenomenal, just like the other colours. The WS too, is a good one. I would have bought it as a main upload!

Have a nice WE!
Gy

adramad (67624) 2021-01-24 10:07

Hi Gert.
The kids climb this small clearing, which is also above the houses to fly their kites, it is a fun and cheap game.
Magnificent composition and color.
Excellent brightness and sharpness.
Well done. I love the picture.
Have a good week.
Very best regards.
Luis.

clic (23964) 2021-01-28 7:56

Hallo Gert Thirty four years ago, kids had to wait for the proper winds before launching kates. Then after they were afraid to loose control of it on beaches or in trees due to sudden vortices.
While in the present time, the young pilots keep hoping for the less wind possible to launch their drone toys!
Such is life!
In your picture each of these seven young characters send in a common aura good vibes for a perfect flight, head turned toward the space ship!
Halsningar

kasianowak (15984) 2021-02-07 0:31

Hi Gert
I like the colourful clothes the kids are wearing. These days it would probably be T-shirts with "I love NY" written across the front. It may have been a slummy area but nice to see kids having fun.
I love the WS photo (I think they are a kind of marigolds).
I would also rather take photos of these wonderful daily life scenes than famous buildings if I had to choose. But these days for me it's more of a choice of what I spend my precious time on, rather than film. ;-)
Best wishes
Kasia