GSEB Class 11 English Unit 3 Kite Flying
What is the summary of the story “Kite-Flying” by Makarand Paranjape?
The story is about a middle-aged, middle-level executive in a large company who is disappointed with his routine life. One day, on his way back from the office, he notices a whole row of bright kites with coloured reels of thread hung in front of a neighbourhood shop. The kites bring back childhood memories of kite-flying in Baroda during Sankranti. The executive feels a deep stirring inside him and decides to buy two kites for a rupee each and a 400-yard spindle of thread. He decides not to buy manja as he wasn’t going to compete. The story is about how the simple act of buying kites makes him feel like an altered being, as if he’s traded in his old life for a brand new one.
Q: Who is Makarand Paranjape?
A: Makarand Paranjape is an Indian novelist, critic, poet, and a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.
Q: What is “Kite-flying” about?
A: “Kite-flying” is about a middle-aged executive working in a public sector corporation who feels dissatisfied with his routine life, and what happens when he passes by a kite shop.
Q: Where was Makarand Paranjape born?
A: Makarand Paranjape was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
Q: What is Makarand Paranjape’s educational background?
A: Makarand Paranjape is an alumnus of several prestigious institutions, including the University of Illinois, USA.
Q: What kind of writing has Makarand Paranjape done?
A: Makarand Paranjape has written several poems, short stories, over 200 essays, book reviews, and occasional pieces in academic and popular periodicals in India and abroad.
Q: What is the storyteller reflecting on in the beginning of the story?
A: The storyteller is reflecting on how to tell a story about an experience that made them feel like a brand new person.
Q: What did the storyteller see on their way home from the office?
A: The storyteller saw a row of bright kites with coloured reels of thread hung in front of a neighbourhood shop.
Q: What was the storyteller’s day at the office like?
A: The storyteller had a normal day at the office, with the routine of work, visitors, tea, chatting, files, lunch, and a meeting in the afternoon.
What does the storyteller do for a living?
The storyteller is a middle-aged, middle-level executive in a large company.
What is the storyteller’s home life like?
The storyteller has a reasonably comfortable home with the usual challenges, and their wife works as a teacher in one of the better schools in the city where their eight-year-old daughter also studies.
What is the storyteller afraid of becoming?
The storyteller is afraid of becoming a nameless, average, uncreative, and predictable job.
