Kite Strings is a novel about dealing with growing up, finding direction in life and making choices.
Mehnaz is 13 when she witnesses an ugly feud seperating her father and his brother, a relentless tear in fhe fabric of their family. Mehnaz misses her cousin Rehana and Basheer who lives in Vellore and wishes that life didn’t have to change so dramatically, and so often.
The boy on the other terrace, Imtiaz, at whom she first threw her slipper, and then went on to exchange curious glances, would come to mean so much more to her.
But it’s Mehnaz’s relationship with her mother, fraught with tension and wavering on hate, is what makes her yearn for freedom. To be the kite that can fly high into the air without a string tugging it down or controlling it.
“Once I asked him what’s the big deal about flying a kite.
‘I mean, you just make sure it rises in the air and then you try to make it fly high. What’s the point in that?’
He curled his lips and sneered, ‘What would you know, Api?’ It’s one of the few times he’s spoken to me disrespectfully. He’s the only one to ever call me Api. Rehana always calls me by my name and Mateen, my three-year-old brother calls me ‘Pee’ sometimes.
I pestered Basheer to explain what he meant. He shrugged and stumbled over the words. ‘You have to…you’ve got to feel the power of putting a kite in the sky and, and… letting it fly without letting it go out of your control.’
The logic seemed warped. ‘You want to let it fly, and you still want to hold it in your hands?’ He turned away, a little irritated and proceeded to ignore me for the rest of the evening.”
Kite Strings is Andaleeb Wajid’s debut novel, written and published in 2009 and self-published in 2012.
Andaleeb Wajid