If the words, ‘kai po che’, mean anything to you, and you’re brave enough to ignore the delicious aromas wafting around the landmark Lucky Restaurant on Bandra’s buzzing SV Road, slip into the lane adjacent to it. Thousands of kites — diamond, fighter, rocket, bowed, delta and more — hang out of shops to form a colourful canopy over the narrow, bustling street. A number of shops in this kite paradise owe much of their collection to Lucky Bharat Kite, tucked away at the far end of the street. Nearly seven decades old, and weighed down by 50,000-odd kites that occupy every inch of its corners, the shop is one of the oldest wholesalers and retailers in the area.

Third-generation owner Ahmed Hussain Kazi sits in a corner of the store-cum-office, quietly watching over the consistent buzz of customers flitting in and out. Uttarayan and Makar Sankranti are just days away and it’s the season for sales to fly. The business these days, however, is a far cry from the time Kazi’s grandfather Maqbool Hussain started making and selling kites. His wife, Nasim, recalls how in their heyday, karigars would trudge all the way from Kolkata to handcraft kites under the sharp eyes of Maqbool, and later, his son Zahid, at their Bunderwadi facility. Kazi followed his father Zahid into the business when he was about 11. “Back in the day, I would design, cut and prepare the kites myself,” he shares.