COMMON ENTERTAINMENTS
As in other places, here too children play cricket, football, hockey, golf, etc. Not only games are their entertainment. They jog with friends; they go to movies, plan a trip, cook, party, gardening, etc.
Here let me say about some unique games or entertainments that are in use among the children in rural areas. You would be wondering when you look into the simple rules the children use in these entertainments.
GOLI
Goli is a game where children of 2 or equally divided groups can play. This is nothing but playing marbles. It is usually blue or green in color. I would name it a “mini-golf” because to see it was more or less like golf. First, the children dig a small hole in the ground (for the marble to set in when they move it). Around the hole, they mark a certain distance, say 5 meters. First, one person in a group uses his fingers to hit the marble (holds the marble between thumb and pointing finger and uses another pointing finger to give a hit). Then the marble reaches somewhere within the 5 meters distance. The same will be repeated by the next team. At last, it is said that whose marble reaches the hole first is the winner, where the winning team gets his marble and the opponent’s marble.
GILLI
Gilli is a game again, where children of 2 or equally divided groups can play. This is played using two sticks where one is short and another long stick. Here too, they dig a hole (in rectangle shape). First, they place the ‘short stick’ horizontally. Using the ‘long stick,’ one group person hits the edge of the short stack so that the short stick moves upwards. Meanwhile, in that space again, a hit is given to it using the long stick. They mark the distance where it falls. The same is repeated by another team too. Here the team who reaches the longest distance is the winner again. Hope you, too, think of Javelin's throw. Yes, more or less, it’s a mini Javelin throw.
NANDI
Nondi is again a game played in a group, where one person chases the whole group by folding one leg and touches anyone in the group. The person who is caught will have to fold one leg and repeat the same. This is usually played by girls.
RAJA-RANI
This is a group game again (of 5 members). This is more or less equal to board games. Here, they tear the paper into equal size. Each paper is written with a title, say ‘RAJA- 10,000’, ‘RANI- 5,000’, ‘MANDIRI- 2,000’, ‘POLICE-1,000’ and ‘THIEF-0’. First, all the papers are folded similarly. A lot is made by one player where everyone in the group gets one piece of paper each. No one is supposed to say or show what they got in the paper except the ‘POLICE’ where ‘the police’ is supposed to find who the thief is. If he finds the thief correctly, then he is the winner. Here the scores are just written on the paper itself. Who gets which paper would get the score which is written against it. This may go around 10-15 rounds. The scores of each round are written down and then calculated at the end. Who gets the maximum score is said to be the winner. Obviously, one who gets the RAJA – paper gets a maximum score.
KOOTANCHOORU
This ‘kootanchooru’ is not a game. It’s a kind of activity performed among the children, both boys and girls. First, they plan for a kootanchooru (cook, share, and eat together.) While they plan, they fix each person should bring a small number of required items for kootanchooru. For example, one glass of rice, one tomato, one onion, one chilly, one tablespoon of salt, two tablespoons of oil, two liters of water with a glass and a plate. This should be bought by every individual and collected in a place. Together they collect some firewood for cooking. They bring everything to one place. With the help of a parent/ any elder, they furnace the fire and start cooking in the group, where the cooking includes friendship, love, and teamwork adds more taste to their food.
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