Once in a while

The forgotten street games

Some of the most fond memories of childhood that I have are of playing on the streets. I think it is a phenomenon in most of the third world countries, where there are not many facilities available for recreation. What better time pass can there be than playing in the streets in front of your house with all your friends, with parents and neighbours looking on? Pele himself said that he learnt most of skills on the streets of Brazil. Sachin too said that his love for cricket began b playing in the streets wth his brothers friends. But with India developing, and I guess because of the arrival of digital age, the streets game have been put aside.

Cricket obviously was the most popular choice of games. After all, it is the only true religion in India. There were times when there would be eleven players a side. It requiered real talent to get runs when there are so many feilders. It wasnt just about fun. It was a fierce competetion, with closely contested matches between teams chosen such that they were equal in strength. There used to be inter street matches which were a question of pride for the streets. We also had the concept of "foreign-national" players with guys from other coming and playing with us. It wasnt only boys, we also had a girl in our team and she did play well.

There were other sports too. The very easy game of "Choor-Chand" where you try to hit other players with a tennis ball. How much more simpler can a game get. Not a game for the weak-minded or the weak bodied. But the pain lasted only for a few seconds because we played with tennis ball.

A slightly modified form of it was the fun game of "Tunnel". Played using a basket-ball, it is one of the most fun and most tiring games. Two teams are made. One team stands inside a box and the other teams stands outside it on two opposite sides of the box. The aim of the players inside the box is to either catch the ball, in which case you get twenty points, or jump over it, in which case you get ten points. You are "out" if the ball hits you. The other team's aim is simply to get everyone inside, out. Then the roles are exchanged and this is continued till everyone is tired and decide to call it a night. I tell you , it requires you to be very athletic and agile to play this game.

"Lagorie" was another brilliant game. You stack up seven flat stones inside a small circle. A player from one team tries to make the stones fall. Once he does that the aim of his team is to stack up the stones again. If you are hit with the ball by the opposite team, you are out. It is very important to shout out "Lagorie" once you have finished setting the stones. Numerous games have been disrupted due to fights where one guy claims that he shouted "lagorie" before the ball hit him and the other team claims that he hadnt. The key really is to just make the top stone fall. There is no way you can get all the stones in place if you hit the pile hard.
This is a fun game if you have a lot of people and needs proper planning and strategy to win.

The games of "Baccha", in which you hit the other guys stone with yours and the game of "goli" where you use marbles instead, were also amazing fun. They had some complicated rules that I dont remember. The problems with these games was that they were shunned to be "poli-games". You will understand what that means if you are a Kannadiga. If you are not, then dont bother. Just read ahead.

The usual games of "hide and seek" and "chor-police" are really games for kids. After you reach a certain age, these games are too lame for you. But the games above can be played at any age. If I get enough people to play with, im still ready to play any of the above games.

It really makes me sad to see the empty streets in front of my house during the evenings. It is still fun to watch these games. The kids today are missing out on some very happy times.

posted by Mahesh.R @ 7:48 AM