What is it that connects flying and tuning and the passion to create? The following poem by Ms. Shruti Gupta certainly gives us an idea. It was read by the author at Vivaan Handpan & World Music Festival 2026 – accompanied by sensitive handpanplaying on a mild goan afternoon.
Viv Kite, my Friend
Introduction to the poem : When someone is in love with flight, music, poetry. They are pulled by something larger than themselves.
Willing to accept struggle, waiting, repetition, and uncertainty.
Loving a path that does not promise ease.
Just like:
a musician in love with sound before applause…
a pilot in love with air before flight…
a poet in love with words before clarity…
-.-
To the space where
Musicians and pilots love alike—
Poets with ink-stained pages
Cracking half penned lines
Sacred grounds , where fire is lit
And tended to all night.
I invite you,
My fellow birdmen,
And star-crossed lovers
Discover floatless avenues,
Joy of being prevails in deep
And feet holds no ground.
In this headspace,
Forevermore.
My heart finds grip
One with my art , One with soul
And some half written sonnets
Lie on my bed
Long, long may I hold
Thoughts that travel through ether—
Before reaching my psyche
No strings attached,
Hopes of wider wings
To shores afar.
Kite, Kite,
Kite, My friend—
Just like the guitarist
Who wouldn’t leave his strings, Unkept ,
Even when the day’s flights call louder
He’d be greasing his sword
Groundwork in the setting,
The base for wilder flights
In muscle, mind
and heart
alike
Possibilities of infinite dreams
Sleep, dear maiden,
Don’t make me chase thee all night.
The half-done piece
Still, Runs in a loop.
The perils of a wishful artist
Before his next move
These bare fingers
Cannot stop—
On and on they go,
Churning my heart
To create new avenues.
Will we make it—
Let our mates know
Which notes skipped our beats?
Which words cut in deep ?
Which flight made us weep ?
A story in the making:
Half done,
Half Becoming, Half Making.
-.-
Shruti Gupta is from Agra in India – poet, coder and a hobbist paraglider.
