How would you like to be in control of three tigers chasing 15 goats? What you have to do is ‘hunt’ the goats, while the goats’ protector tries to save them by blocking the tiger. The Archaeological Survey of India has found a brick showing that the Dutch in India used to play this goat-and-tiger game as far back as 1600CE, though this folk game called aadu puli aattam is, of course even older (aadu = goat; puli = guess what? GROWL!) Variations of aadu puli aattam are baghchal or bagh-bakri and an online version is there at www.cmi.ac.in/~ [1] prakash/Aadu-Puli/.
Playstations and computer games may make your parents seem like zombies from another planet, who just don’t get it, but there’s something happening out there that you should know about. It’s a revival of retro games. After all, people played them for ages and ages because they were so much fun! Now those games are being brought back into the home and the park — and it’s up to you to prove that you can play them just as well as any others.
Another fun one is navakankari, an alignment game known as Nine Men’s Morris in Europe. It is known as saalu mane ata, jodpi ata or char-par in Kannada, navkakri in Gujarati and daadi in Telugu.
Then there’s chauka bara, a race game of chance. An online version is available at http://kavidikali.com [2] (in Kerala, the game is known as kavidi kali). And what about the action-a-minute satoliya or pitthu? Of course, you can go around and find those flat seven stones in decreasing sizes (construction sites in the locality are perfect to mine flat marble or granite pieces!), or you can buy those available in elephant poop or as palm-leaf beads. You can find the rules on http://www.traditionalgames.in/home/ [3]
property-games/seven-stones-elu-kallu. Now get, set... play!
The writer is Editorial Director, Children’s & Reference Books,
Hachette India
Links:
[1] http://www.cmi.ac.in/~
[2] http://kavidikali.com
[3] http://www.traditionalgames.in/home/