Childhood Games

Day before yesterday i was watching a television Ad on XBOX gaming console which is apparently offering our own "Gilli Danda" game- The earthy form of cricket. As usual just as anything familiar brings back past memories this Ad got my flashback wheel rolling and rolling till my school days..It also reminded me of many other other games which are quite interesting. I am compiling a few interesting games which have this earthy flavor and those which each one of us might have played sometime when we were kids.

1.Sab-Ja-Indoor:

It is a version of hide and seek. A "Den" is elected among the group and he has to count till 50 or hundred while others go and hide themselves in the most inaccessable and places where they are not easily found. And you might know what happens next but just want to elaborate for the sake of completion. THe Den has to find out the each of the group members by shouting "Friend X indoor" while avoiding being banged on his back by another hiding friend shouting "Sabja". If the Den is able to uncover all his hiding friends then the first one to be caught becomes the den. But if the current Den gets slammed on his back by any others without being caught or if the friends collude to make him the Den again he has no other choice but to start counting till 100 against a wall. Some mischievous friend might stand right behind the Den while he is counting up the numbers against the wall and slam on his back saying "Sabja" as soon as the Den completes counting. Now coming to name of the game itself i was quite perplexed when i was a kid as to what sabja means. Then finally a couple of years back when i was recalling old games i realised that it means SAB(everyone) JA(go) INDOOR(indoor to hide somewhere). I finally unravelled the nomenclature after almost 20 years. Better late than never. The interesting part is where one can hide themselves. Somehow kids being small find some ingenious places to hide. Behind doors, behind pillars, under the beds, inside cupboards(this is dangerous) and some go to the neighbouring houses to hide. A kind of pre game rule has to be established to define the boundaries which a person can hide.

2. Current Shock:

This another interesting game which we used to play. You need atleast three people to play this game. Similarly to the previous game some unfortunate bloke is selected as a Den by some funny methods, i will talk about them later. You also need a big terrace or good enough ground. Requires lot of running to. The Den has to run behind the players and some catch hold of them and say Shock. The caught player has to stay still at the place till another unshocked player gives him "Current" to move. If all the players get "shocked" by the Den then the game is over and some how the slowest fellow to be caught first will become the next Den.

3. Chain Cut:

This is also similar to current-shock but the caught players join with the Den and form a human chain and run behind other players. The one who is not caught will be the winner. If the number of players are more there are chances of forming huge chains. Depending on the arena to cover, sometimes a few exceptions are made with mutual understanding and the larger chain breaks off into smaller chains to catch the running players.

4.Dodge the Ball:

This game is quite athletic and particularly a high adrenaline game. In this game the Den has to try hitting the other players with a ball and the players should avoid getting hit by the ball. We used to play this a lot in our school ground. The players start running around the ground the den should shoot the ball at the legs of other players. There are certain rules, you should hit the players above the hip. And there are many instances of conflict when the Den claims that it has hit below the hip while the player refutes. Once a player gets hit he teams with the Den to hit the other players. The last one to remain is the winner. To avoid the ball you have to be very quick sometimes doing some high jumps or duck quickly or run away from the line of attack of the ball.

5.Seven Stones Game: fondly called in telugu as "Yedu Penkulata" :)

The players are divided into two teams. It also requires seven flat stones and a rubber or tennis ball. The stones are placed one on top of another in a small circle. The teams stand on either sides in the beginning. The team that holds the ball gets three chances to fell off the stones and run helter skelter. The other team will try to hit one of the players in the "ball holding team" while the team members try to restore the vertical arrangement of the stones before one them gets hit by the ball. This game was considered rather rustic and was not allowed in our school. I am really not sure why it was considered as an "uncultured" game not to be played by "cultured" enthusiasts. After every game of cricket we used to play this game on the pitch. The stones were placed in the center of the pitch and fun began. But once we were severely repramanded and caned by our nutty PT master for playing this game. It was subsequently banned and as you know we continued to play the game secretly...Hehehe....Its a fun game and team game. Every player contributes to the team. By either gaining attention of the team and dragging them out of the ground zero zone while other players arrange the stones.

6.Gilli Danda:

This was another banned game in the school but our own version of cricket played with two sticks-one longer and one shorter.It is also called "Guti Billa" in telugu. I think i need not elaborate on this game as all of us know it.

7. Cricket:

The game most of our indians like. From childhood every person gets fascinated by this game either because of the constant exposure to this game on television or the apparent passion with which people follow it making it a game that must be played some time or the other in life. Peer pressure. Well even if we do not find a good pitch,bat of ball several innovative things double up as bats and balls. First even the slightest space available can be converted into a cricket pitch. The wall,a chair, bricks place over one another, bamboo sticks act as wickets. I remember drawing three lines on a wall once to treat as a wicket. Even in my current room, my roomie and myself played cricket with an empty carton acting as a wicket. Coming to the bats-any thick object(relative to the ball of course) with the slightest flat surface acts as a bat. My school has lots of mango trees and cocunut trees. The fallen of branches of the coconut tree perfectly replaces the bat. In the class room the examination pads, Hard bound textbooks act as a bats. Similarly many objects can act as the cricket ball. Sometimes a wound paper wound by a rubber band acts as a ball.Several new rules crop up based on the need- one step catches, only full tosses, underarm bowling,off side only or leg side only batting, 1D(one declared if it crosses a certain boundary to save the batsmen from running),2Ds,sixes and so on and on and on.....

8.Book Cricket:

This is an interesting time pass game played during school days in the back benches...It can be a single player game or involve multiple players. Any boring text book can be put to good use by playing this game:) All you need to do is randomly open a page and look at the even number and the last unit's place digit is your score. 0 means out, 2 means 2 runs,4 means four, 6 means chakka maara, 8 means out again. Its random and a chance game. But full time pass as you can play ten players games and total the final score. I remember it was 1996 cricket world cup time and i was in 8th std and fell in love with this game. I would play very honestly if it was any other nation except Pak. I used to convince myself that if a 0 comes for an indian player its a "noball" and would try again till i get a six or four or sometimes rarely give a two as a consolation. Hehe...I played a world championship and of all things England won it once. I played so many times till India won the world cup and declared it myself that it is the only valid tournament. National Jingoism at its best.

So i cant remember other games much but some other ones that were probably left out can be pointed out by the readers...Oh ya ya ya...I remember one game is "Neela Banda" in telugu or "Land" and "elevation" when translated into English. Its simple the denner stands on the land other participants stand on elevated places and switch from one elevation to other while the den tries to catch them. Hmm....Life was great fun in childhood isnt it?