After the monsoon rains have cleared and Nepalis are readying themsleves for Dasain - their largest festival - the hordes of small children upon the rooftops can only mean one thing: kite-flying season. For a month the sky teems with paper malays reaching out on thousand of metres of thread. Not content with merely watching them waft on the breeze, however, the boys coat the strings in a paste containing ground glass and duel with each other. They shout 'chet' each time they cut down an opponent, and dance with glee as they see the victim's kite floating away.