In its final manifestation last year, the annual Junction, Texas, kite weekend produced yet another surprise-a kite wizard from one of the world’s more obscure countries, Afghanistan.

Basir Beria, born in 1961 in the capital, Kabul, and now resident as a refugee in Tarzana, California, after doing a prison term as a teenager for demonstrating anti-Russian sentiment in his home country, showed off the kite tradition of Afghanistan to a fascinated audience.

In its final manifestation last year, the annual Junction, Texas, kite weekend produced yet another surprise-a kite wizard from one of the world’s more obscure countries, Afghanistan.

Basir Beria, born in 1961 in the capital, Kabul, and now resident as a refugee in Tarzana, California, after doing a prison term as a teenager for demonstrating anti-Russian sentiment in his home country, showed off the kite tradition of Afghanistan to a fascinated audience.

Traditional Afghan kites, he revealed, are simply Indian-type fighters with cutting line, but they tend to be much larger in size than their parents and, unlike the Indians, use tails. Kiteflying is a very respected sport in Afghanistan, Beria reports, and skill in making good kites commands great prestige.