FORGOTTEN GAMES

Well, well... now that India is truly out of the World cup and administrators are ruminating over the ruthless culling that is in store for our team, I am nostalgic to think about the "games" that we used to play while growing up. True, we had our heroes in Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev and they rose over the nation looming large in every walk of life- they were our GODS. The iconic stature of cricketing figures made largely popular by the advent of one-day cricket and the rise of Doordarshan (initially) and then satellite TV, cricket was THE game.

Cricket's influence apart, there were (and still are) a good number of other modes of fun. But I remember many of the games I played as a kid before getting sucked up into cricket. And man, were they fun! There are so many games played in the backyards and streets of India, many of them are designed to deliver what a game should provide- entertainment and exercise, along with immense fun. Kids remember playing Seven-stones (or Nagoliyo in Gujarat), Gilli-Danda, Hide & Seek, 5 stones, Goli (kanchey), Top (lattoo, bambaram), Pallanguzhi (Channe-manne in Kannada), Ikri-Dukri, Ankmicholy (blind man's buff), and a host of other sweet games which have no proper names.

Gilli-Danda I guess has to be the most popular game amongst the little imps in India. The "Gilli" is a small stick tapered at the ends, and it is placed conveniently in a hole or in the ground at an angle. The "Danda" is a 2 feet stick which is used to strike the Gilli, which becomes airborne and then struck at. If the opposition team player catches your Gilli, you are out and he gets a point. If not, the opposition team member has to hit the Danda (which is now placed in the hole in the ground) with the Gilli, from where it landed (just like a run-out in cricket). If he succeeds, he gets a point or else the other team/person gets it. There are many variants to this game and it was real fun, and acted as a precursor to playing the more mature but somewhat similar game, cricket.

The young girls (mostly in towns and villages) used to play Ikri-Dukri (this has many names across India). A rectangle about three yards long and two yards wide is drawn. This rectangle is divided into various compartments about a foot wide. The space of four-foot square in the middle is subdivided into four triangles by a cross. Beyond these triangles are three more parallel lines. The girls then push a piece of flat stone or broken earthenware pot, also called "thippi" with their big toe (or hop with it in the toes), into all the compartments in a sequence. The first to complete cleanly is the winner.


Goli (or marbles) is also very popular with the young brats of India. Many versions are present with this game too, but chief objective is to put your marble into a hole dug at a distance from the starting point. But wait- you also have to thwart your opponent's efforts from him reaching the hole first; which is done by hitting his marbles. It requires deft fingers, arched back to take aim and accuracy- and then struck with a force. Many instances of a bigger bully taking over your marbles are part and parcel of this game...


And then there is a game made popular by village heroes in movies. The top (Bambaram in tamil, Lattoo in Hindi) is mainly played by boys. You spin a coil around a top and let it spin on the ground. The winner is the person who manages to spin the top for a long time. I never tried much of this game though.

Patang Baazi (Kite Flying) is a very popular pastime among kids and adults alike. The kite flying festival is very popular in north India. It is called BASANT or Jashn-e-Baharan in Pakistan(Lahore) and in Punjab, coinciding with the Vasanth Panchami. Makara Sankranthi or the first day of the Uttarayan is when Indians celebrate this event. Festivities apart, kite flying requires some skill too. The thread for the kite is made ultra-strong by dipping it in what is called "MAANJA"- a weird concoction of every perceivable rotting stuff/poison and other household liquids and pastes, along with powdered blades, battery acid too, sometimes! The resulting thread is very strong and it is beneficial in cutting others' kites. The kites too, have a design and other research behind it to make it airborne and easy-to-manage. Colourful and teeming the sky, kite terminology in local lingo is varied and numerous. This is one sport which I sucked at...


Seven stones (my favourite) is again a boys game. You line up seven flat stones one on top of the other and form two teams. With a tennis ball you are given 3 chances to hit the stones from a distance- Once you hit the stones, the opposite team members try to hit you with the ball, and team work also plays here. Your team has to re-assemble the seven stones to how they were, while the other team members try to hit your team members. Points are gained when you successfully reassemble the stones or if you successfully hit a member of the opposite team.

Hide and seek is known to every kid in this world, while a similar game, Ankmicholy is played by blindfolding a person who has to contact (touch) the others. Again, this is made popular by movies.

Then there is this game, a version of which was played by Sita in Lanka when she was waiting to be rescued. I dont know the name of this game in Hindi, but in tamil it is called Pallanguzhi, or Channe-manne in Kannada or Vamana Guntalu in Telugu. It consists of a rectangular board with two rows and seven columns, having 14 cups in total. 146 counters (seeds, beads, stones were used) are placed 12 in each cup and one in the center column, to start with (variants exist). The counters from one cup are taken and deposited one by one in an anti-clockwise direction, and once they are exhausted, the next available counter is taken. Rules allow to take possession of the counters next to an empty cup. And the aim is to defeat your opponent by claiming most counters. Could be played as a solitaire version too. This requires a bit of mathematical thinking and logic too... perhaps thats why this is only found in south India :))


5-stones is a girls' game played with 5 stones, shells or other similar objects. You throw one in the air and before it comes down, you take a stone from below and catch both. Then you throw both up in the air, and pick up the third stone. And the fourth stone, fifth stone... Variants include catching the stone with your palm facing up (easy) and your palm facing down- like grabbing (tough), hitting the ground 1, 2, 3... times before you attempt your catch. I remember playing this game for a few years in my school days :)

Well, there are many more wonderful games and pastimes which are mingled with the local folklore and culture, and many are forgotten by the time you hit puberty! For instance, I played one game, which is played in sand (beach, for instance). Your opponent closes your eyes with his/her hands and gives you an object (stick, for instance) and asks you to bury it at a particular place while she still keeps your eyes closed. Then she walks you for some distance and releases you- after which you have to retrieve your object within a given time. Yea, those were the times!

Feels nice to be nostalgic once a while!

CRICKET IS JUST A GAME

The world cup 2007 has barely started, but what a week it has been! Turbulent and volatile, the 9th edition of one day cricket's premier event has rocked! And how! Lets get some facts here...

1. Hershelle Gibbs cracks 6,6,6,6,6,6 in one over.

2. Zimbabwe ties with Ireland.

3. Andrew Flintoff get tipsy, and had to be rescued from sea at 4:00 AM after his boat capsized.

4. St. Patrick's day inspired Ireland sends Pakistan reeling out of the world cup after just two matches.

5. Bob Woolmer dies mysteriously a day after his team's exit from the world cup.

6. Inzamam, the "Sultan of Multan" bids adieu to one day cricket.

7. Nasim Ashraf, the Pakistan cricket board chairman resigns.

8. Bangladesh's Manjurul Islam dies in a road accident.

9. On the same fateful day (march 17th), India loses to minnows (are they?) Bangladesh.

10. Protests erupt in India and Pakistan; more so in Pakistan.

11. India responds in style cracking 413 (record in WC), and wins by 257 runs (record in all ODIs).

So what follows next??

St. Patrick's day did the trick for Ireland- everybody loves the underdog. They defeated Pakistan and eliminated them out of the world cup, sparking off a chain of reactions starting off with the sudden death of Bob Woolmer.

The pictures: (clockwise, from top left) Dhoni's property being vandalised in Ranchi; one of the last pictures of Bob Woolmer taken before he expired; Hershelle Gibbs creates a new record of 36 runs in one over; DAILY STAR lambasts Flintoff for his boozing exploits.With all the hype and anticipation the media had created for this world cup, the reporters should be having a field day out there.

(Bangladesh celebrate their triumph against India, while irate fans burn posters of Inzamam. The scorecard says it all- highest score in the world cup which led to a victory by the highest margin of runs ever)

People were saying not too long ago: "The real World Cup starts only from the Super 8 stage..." Well if these events are just NOTHING, what is in store for us in the Super 8 stage!?

Credit to GETTY IMAGES, CRICINFO, THE HINDU and DAILY STAR for the images.

DAYLIGHT TIME

The half-yearly routine of changing clocks ahead/behind by one hour during spring and fall is well known, but this year it is different. George Bush signed a legislation in August 2005 which made the US and Canada agree on "revised" dates for setting the clocks ahead or behind. Traditionally, it was done on the first sunday of April and on the last sunday of October. However, from this year onwards spring will come early and winter will come late. It has been changed to 2nd sunday of March and the first sunday of November.

The reason behind daylight saving is not well understood by some (including myself, till recently). Because the sun shone for a time while most people were asleep, it was reasoned that light could be better used during the day. The solution was to push the clocks ahead one hour in springtime, forcing people to wake an hour earlier. They would therefore expend less energy trying to light their homes, for instance, if time were adjusted to suit their daily patterns. When the days started getting shorter in the fall and people awoke to increasing darkness, the clocks were turned back an hour to get more light in the morning.

The above passage was taken from here, and it gave very good understanding to the idea of daylight saving. Saving energy was the intent, and this is Bush's idea of saving even more energy!

INDISA 2007

Where could one hear cries like "Har Har Mahadev", "Bharat Mata kii... JAI", "Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal", "Jai Maharashtra", and an endless array of cheers and jeers? It was not at a battlefield, but it was heard reverbrating throughout the jam packed halls of SUB the other night on the occasion of INDISA 2007-Rang Barse.

For all aliens reading this, INDISA is the yearly cultural fest organized for and by the students from the Indian subcontinent in Dalhousie University, Canada.

INDISA chiefly had many dances and "fashion shows", split between a 90 minute dinner intermission. The Master of ceremony(MC) did a fairly decent job, appearing between performances and delivering his wisecracks. Though commendable, some of his puns were not well received- especially about Halifax not having any taxis for the night as every Indian was there at the hall. Though a few caught him lifting Russell Peter's idea (on Honda Civics- watch OUTSOURCED), the MC was OK, appearing to be too enthusiastic or too mechanical at times.


The dances started off with a Bengali number choreographed by Mou and Tanishka, followed by an array of "fashion shows", which were more than themes/dance numbers in themselves. While some of them were OK, some were poorly performed with little or no enthusiasm among the participants. There were cries of "1-2-3-4, bandh karo yeh athyachaar" at some drab exercises in the name of fashion show. Tiny tots and young teens too took part in the festivities of dance and fashion shows, which earned them a praise from a boisterous section of the crowd "Chotte chotte bacche, jawano se acche", much to the chagrin of the other performers!

A few dance numbers were very well done, most notably the one by Sheetal and group, the solos by Subbu, Suneethra(?) and Varthika. Mou was also scintillating in all her performances. The theme of the night was "Rang Barse", an apt title especially with the HOLI festival in mind. Abitabh Kumar was another person who took part in many dances and fashion shows, and he was dazzling in his own way, as usual. A few technical glitches with lighting and sound were quickly forgotten as the audience were treated to some good choreography and some refreshing dances. It was colourful all right, but colour was more in the crowd with their own version of "rang barse"- hooting and cheering all the way along; blissfully ignorant of the surreal lunar eclipse engulfing the moon outside the building that night. A special mention has to be made about GAURAV SEHGAL, who was chief in creating the frenzy atmosphere for the evening.


The atmosphere became more electric after the intermission, and songs and dances and fashion shows became better and better. A fitting finale was the bhangra dance group, which had the whole crowd on its feet. After the bhangra dance, the catchy dance number "rang de basanti" from the movie "Rang de Basanti" was played at the end, signifying the theme and the mood for the evening- all the performers for the night came on and were cheered, ending in a colourful manner. It was all glitz and glamour, with nearly 600 people in the hall. Overall, quite a memorable evening.



The photographs surely reflect the mood of the evening. Special thanks to Anirudh Koul, the yahoo answers guy and the next big thing in computing, for the pictures.



This blog **MAYBE** updated to include more pictures, as soon as they are made available.

Overheard in the SUB: "Goro, desh chodo!" (Whitey, leave the country!). Brazen! Quite brazen, since most people present were canadians!

QUESTIONING THE AUTHORITY

(This part of my blogging is called RANT)
I am wondering if we ever get to see a political party/leader who is genuinely interested in the welfare of the subjects. Politics in India is woven in an intricately complex blend of sleaze, money, movies, corruption, greed, power, and dedication (hey, there are some nice persons too). I was just reading the upshot of the national budget, and every one is criticising the government for not taking care of X and Y, while they are blind to the developments aimed at A and B. True, the opposition party is there to "oppose" but surely there should be a limit. The left parties bemoan the lack of initiatives to control inflation, and the problem of unemployment. The BJP plays the tune of budget not reaching "aam aadmi". I am seriously thinking if they ever read the whole text of the volumnous budget proposal.

What we have is a bunch of pseudo half-baked wannabes who take bits and pieces of events, historical persons and their idealogies. For example, they insist human rights are to upheld, but don't know where to draw the line. For a person like Mohammed Afzal, who has been convicted of wreacking havoc on the very heart of the largest democracy in the world- the parliament of India, surely there could not be a graver crime than betrayal of our motherland? His intentions are very clear for everyone to see, but yet they plead clemency for him.

(This part of my blogging is called ANGER)
It could be argued that we have shown our strength by willing to plead clemency for Afzal, and kept alive our long historical and mythological tradition of pardoning a sinner. Surely while it is true that hanging Afzal could not solve everything, much has to be thought about the repercussions of these events in the long run. It doesn't bother if Afzal languishes in jail or if he is hanged, and the verdict of the Supreme Court doesn't bother me in either case. The verdict is not the point. The point is, if the Chief Minister of J&K would call the death sentence as "death of democracy and justice", we really wonder where are we headed to. We have lost faith in the judiciary and in the policies of our rulers. We quote Gandhi and his ways to be "non-violent", but at the same time we are forgetting what Lord Krishna said to Partha in the battlefield about the need for upholding dharma over evil. He pushed Arjuna to battle though against his fellowmen, and we forget to take such examples! The people in power have lost their discretionary power, and this is a road to anarchy. It has become very common for people in power and others to question the supreme authority of the courts. Politicians convicted of various crimes rarely serve the sentence they deserve, and this trend has become dangerous. When I was in India recently, one of my relatives had told me that anarchy is not far away if we repeatedly question(or oppose) the government for its policies.

(This part of my blogging is called REASONING)
I once read that real power is the power of NOT doing something though you are well within your capacity to do it. It is not a big deal if Iran decides to "pardon" USA by not attacking it- for it is well known that Iran could not match America's power, and such an act would be false bravado. However if USA decides to pardon Iran, then it is a real show of power. This example is just metaphorical and it could be extended to a variety of events. If politicians just decide to stop thinking about their own welfare for a moment and focus on the country (giving up your comforts though you could very well have them at your will), then we'd have powerful politicians who could lead a prosperous nation. As for their discriminatory powers, I just hope that we have a new wave of "thinkers" who can see both the wood and the tree. Every disturbance causes outward ripples, and we see quite a few "dynamic" leaders both young and old, mostly the young who would shape future generations of politicians.

(This part of my blogging is called DEAL WITH IT)
The inflation is rising but why cannot one understand that we are not GODS and we are not capable of making miracles overnight- something that would appease everyone in the country. True, we feel let down if we are not served, but surely our time would come (or had already come in the past). An earlier budget focussed on industrialization, and now the backbone of Indian economy- farming, is given the chief importance. We HAVE TO ACCEPT our rulers because we are the subjects. Our duty as subjects is to strive to work for our country, and personal benefits would occur automatically. A political imbroglio would result should every group press that they should be taken care of. So friends, Indians and countrymen... lend me your support, and put up with the "hardships" you face- you would come out much stronger than ever before.