Amazing photographs from Ahmedabad show artisans bent over cotton thread pulleys and coating each thread by hand dipping it in a mixture of glue and ground glass. Colorful pigments coat their fingers as they twist, stretch and dry the threads, transforming the ordinary cotton thread into a sharp, shiny string that can cut rivals’ kites in flight.
“This process is very delicate. Every pulley has to be perfect. A weak thread can waste hours of kite flying,” says a craftsman as he adjusts the tension of the thread.