CHILDHOOD GAMES - MARBLES, SEVEN STONES, LAGORIEA ETC

CHILDHOOD GAMES - MARBLES, SEVEN STONES, LAGORIEA ETC

 A little touch of nostalgia about the simple games we played as children growing up in KGF. Childhood in K G F was blissful. We did not have any luxuries like the present generation but never the less we were happy with simple pleasures and entertainments that our parents could provide for us. Many will remember the games we played in childhood such as Hopscotch or Butch, Top Spinning, Rounders, or Lagorie Seven Stones, Seven Tiles ,   “ L O N D O N”, ‘I Spy”, Running and Catching, Robbers and Police, Kabbadi, Kho-Kho, Gilly Danda, marbles etc and many other simple games besides the usual  Cricket,  Hockey, football, Tennis, etc. Many of  these games are indigent and native to India, but nonetheless played by us with much enthusiasm

There was a huge open ground or ‘Maidan’ behind our house in Nandydroog Mine and all our friends would join us there to play in the evenings after school and on holidays and weekends. Kite flying was one of our favourite pass times. Besides having a lot of fun flying our kites, we had a lot of enjoyment making the kites ourselves with Broom sticks or Bamboo sticks, kite paper, newspapers etc.  A paste of flour and water was used  to stick the paper to the kite frame.  Making the Manja for the kite string was the most exciting part where a mixture of glass pieces, flour paste etc was carefully smeared on the kite sting to make it sharp, so as to cut the strings of other kites midair.

Besides all these above mentioned games, we also played our favourite, ‘Girly’ game of ‘House House’ We had a lot of pots and pans or ‘Chapus; for this game. The Chapus were either made of mud, metal or plastic and we had tea parties with the dolls, cooked over our little stoves with our pots and pans, and we hosted upteen tea parties and dinner parties with our dolls and teddy bears!

I mustn’t forget to mention the various Board games such as Carroms, Chinese Checkers, snakes and ladders, Ludo, Chess, Drafts, Bagatelle, etc

It’s so sad to think that children of today are not given the opportunity to sample and enjoy the simple joys of life. Instead, they play with high tech video games, play stations and other fancy gadgets. They don’t get the exercise and happiness that they would get by playing these simple inexpensive games that we enjoyed playing. We had a blissful childhood indeed!!