Childhood Playtime

Abhay asked a random question today as we were having lunch at home.

“Did you not take a liking to table tennis in your childhood?”

In the course of answering this simple question I was taken almost 50 or more years back in time.

I grew up in the main town of Khopoli as opposed to several of my friends and classmates who lived in industrial colonies around the main town. In those days big names such as Birla, Mahindra, Tata had steel factories, electric power houses and such big companies in the area. Their own campuses had housing for their staff and various social amenities such as tennis and badminton courts , club houses, gardens etc. The kids from my generation who grew up in those colonies enjoyed all the benefits of their communities. 

My life was very different from theirs in terms of the games I learned to play in my childhood. I never had exposure to table tennis, tennis, badminton, swimming or such elegant sports. Whatever sports I played with those kids were at school. And those included mostly team or athletic stuff such as khaki-kho, kabaddi, langdi, high jump, long jump, relay races, 100m or 200 m races etc. I can’t brag about being at the top of my classmates in these sports but I was good enough to give them a run for their money or occasionally pull the trophies out of their hands with a surprising performance. 

What really brought a smile today on my face when I tried to answer Abhay’s question was the games I played after school. These required some unique tools. 

Sagar Gote. Chippi. Viti Dandu. Lagori. Sagar gote are dry gray colored seeds of some sort, about the size of a cherry, but not soft like a cherry. They had a hard surface and almost hollow insides. Very light weight. They could be bought at local hardware stores owned by the Bohri community.They didn’t cost much. There were no booklets or pamphlets that came explaining how to play with these. We just learned from someone who knew. We could play by ourselves or with siblings or friends. At home or outside. Easy breezy. 

Chippi. This had to be played outside. A series of adjoining squares drawn by chalk on the roadside and a small chip of tile was all that was needed to play this. A simple game but proved to give good workout for the legs and hip girdle. 

Lagori needed many flat rocks in incremental sizes to stack one on the other to create a pile. And then in one shot from a distance the pile had to be crashed. Basically it improved quick reflexes and target practice. 

There was one more popular toy. The top. भोवरा. Unfortunately I never could figure out how to spin it. I would just have to watch the boys play with that one. 

My favorite! Viti dandu! Whenever dad had carpenters working at home I would get them to carve out the Viti a small cyclindrical piece of wood tapered down on both sides. And the wooden dandu or stick. One forceful smack with the dandu a neatly placed Viti had to fly up in the air and receive mid air smacks from the dandu and take it farther from where you started. I got so skilled at this one that I could beat all the boys in the neighborhood. My girl confidence certainly got a boost from this one. 

Oh what a wonderful time it was. 

Those simple forgotten games brought a smile today with Abhay’s random question. Who cares about table tennis ? The Viti dandu was any day more special. It could keep me literally in touch with the earth.