India's kite-makers see sales fly during lockdown

疫情期间意大利人在阳台高歌 而印度人热衷于放风筝

Mohammad Ahmed has been selling kites for the past 11 years, and he says he has never seen it so busy.

穆罕默德·艾哈迈德已经卖了11年风筝，他表示从未见过生意如此繁忙。

Sales at his shop in Delhi have soared over the past six months - thanks to coronavirus.

过去六个月他在德里的风筝店销量大涨，这都是拜疫情所赐。

Mr Ahmed says that most days since India went into lockdown on 25 March he has restocked his shop with kites worth a total 150,000 rupees, only for them to sell out by the evening.

艾哈迈德说，自从印度在3月25日实行封锁以后，他每天都要补充总价15万卢比（约合人民币13987元）的风筝库存，但大多数时候总是不到天黑就卖光了。

"I am tired of taking phone calls," he says. "Suddenly everybody has needed kites. I am still getting calls from all over the country - Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan… There is still so much demand that I am not able to fulfil it."

他说：“我接电话都接烦了。突然之间每个人都需要风筝。我还在不停地接到来自全国各地的电话，马哈拉施特拉邦、泰米尔纳德邦、拉贾斯坦邦……需求量依然这么大，我都没法满足了。”

While Italians sang songs from their balconies and windows to boost morale when they were stuck at home due to Covid-19 restrictions, Indians flew kites from their terraces and roof tops.

由于疫情限制措施而不得不待在家里的意大利人在阳台上和窗前唱歌来鼓舞士气，而印度人则在自家露台和屋顶上放风筝。

Ahsan Khan, a seller in Mumbai, says, "The period between April and August is usually the leanest , but this year, I have sold about 500,000 kites ."

孟买的一名卖家阿赫桑·汗表示：“四月到八月期间通常是风筝销售的淡季，但今年我却（在这一期间）卖出了约50万只风筝。”

He adds that neighbouring Pakistan had also caught the kite-flying bug during its lockdown. "I am even getting calls from Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan, from people offering to pay me double the usual amount."

他还说道，邻国巴基斯坦也在封锁期间掀起了放风筝的热潮。“我甚至接到了来自巴基斯坦卡拉奇和拉合尔的电话，那里的人们提出用双倍价钱买我的风筝。”

Kite-flying has been a popular pastime in India for centuries, with historians saying that it was introduced to the country by Chinese travellers.

几个世纪以来，放风筝在印度一直是广受欢迎的消遣活动，历史学家称放风筝是由中国旅人引进的。

It is however, usually a seasonal activity in India. In most parts of the country sales peak around the festival of Makar Sankranti - celebrated on 14 January to mark the beginning of spring and harvest season.

不过，在印度，放风筝通常是一种季节性活动。在印度的多数地区，风筝销量会在马卡尔·桑克兰蒂节前后达到高峰。1月14日庆祝的马卡尔·桑克兰蒂节是为了纪念春天和收获季节的开始。

The tradition of kite-flying has long been associated with this festival, with the western state of Gujarat organising an international kite festival on the same day.

长期以来，放风筝的传统一直和这个节日相关联，印度西部的古吉拉特邦会在同一天举行国际风筝节。

Preparations for this begin months earlier, with kite-makers from other parts of the country going to Gujarat, and the city of Mumbai, just to the south, to lend their expertise in making India's traditional brightly-coloured paper kites.

国际风筝节的筹备工作在数月前就会开始，来自印度其他地区的风筝制作者会聚集到古吉拉特邦和古吉拉特邦以南的孟买市，贡献自己的才艺来制作印度传统的色彩鲜艳的纸风筝。

Some other festivals, like Basant Panchami and Pahela Baishakh, keep up the demand in northern India till April, after which sales start to fall. They then recover just before 15 August when India celebrates its Independence Day.

其他的一些节日，比如知识节和孟历新年，会让印度北部对风筝的需求高峰持续到四月份，之后销量就开始下降。风筝销量在8月15日印度庆祝独立日前又会重新开始上涨。

But this year, the coronavirus lockdown has kept the kite industry very busy during its usual lean months. Even after the lockdown began being eased in stages from June to the end of August, children, mostly boys, kept the demand high as the schools remained shut.

但在今年，疫情封锁却让风筝行业在往年的淡季异常繁忙。即使在六月到八月底的这段时间，封锁措施开始放松，但由于学校依然关闭，孩子们（以男孩为主）依然让风筝需求量居高不下。