It's almost Dasai. Time to dust the lattai, restock the majha and flex the fingers. The hills will be alive with the collective victory cry of "chaaaait" as another kite bites the dust. Aficionados in congested Kathmandu will clamber up to their rooftop terraces to do battle with aerial foes. It won't be a tea party. Kite flying in Nepal means war.

Since the idea is to send the enemy kite hurtling earthward, you need every advantage you can get, starting with special string armoured with ground glass and an easily manoeuvred lattai to reel in and out faster. It gets downright nasty sometimes when dogfights become ruthless. The winner performs elaborate victory rolls when the challenger is cut adrift. Don't suppose for a minute that it comes effortlessly.

Master fliers are gurus who share their skills with a few, passing down their secrets of how to execute a launch, reeling-which is preferable to the amateurish side-to-side (tiktike) motion-and the perfectly timed choke to make the kite shoot upwards. Kites that were traditionally made of Nepali lokta paper are losing ground to lighter "Lucknow" models that are capable of sharp turns, diving attacks, good line response and bright colours that stand out like a dare. There is no place for sentiments in changa chait.

Those who long for wide open spaces to fly their kites and prove their mettle will have the ideal opportunity at the Changa Chait 2060 competition organised by Club Himalaya, Nagarkot and supported by Flying Yetis, an amateur kite flyers club, and Nagarkot Naldum Tourism Development Committee. The organisers hope to promote the fine art of kite flying, while also encouraging business enterprises to take their competition sky high, quite literally.

It's a pity free agents, read you and me, are not eligible to participate, at least not formally. But all's fair in love and war, including a little piracy. Don't be surprised to see a cross-and-bones kite cutting some nifty moves in the Nagarkot thermals.

Kite speak
Majha: line armour
Mandali: stone on string used to prey on low-fliers
Kakaa: string at point where it is tied to kite
Phuin: showoff kite aerobatics
Tthini: launching kite by copilot
Lappa: stall
Hi-chait: cut kite
Gwankh: paper weight to balance kite
Tiktike: sluggish side-by-side movement of kite
Chakchake: kite with attention deficit disorder
Tauke: kite with pattern on top quadrant
Babache: kite with bottom half of a different colour
Dariwal: kite with symmetrical pattern on bottom left and right
Dharke: kite with stripes
Puchhare: kite with tail

Changa Chait 2060 will take place on 6, 13 and 27 September at Club Himalaya, Nagarkot.