Warm Corners

Friday, November 20, 2009

Reminiscence of child's play

Lunch at the "snack shack" (our office pantry) is anything but quiet! Come 1:15 P.M. and everyone has a story to tell, an opinion to state, an experience to share .... Just about anything consequential or inconsequential... Doesn't matter... From celebrity couple's parental skills to noodles with tomato sauce resembling leeches and blood... Every topic is covered in depth, analysed to the very core... and then... Peace prevails!

I love these lunch breaks... It is just so much fun :)

Yesterday , the topic of discussion was the games we played in our childhood. It brought back so many memories to all of us! We've all grown up in an age where for some, the television was non-existant and for some, doordarshan was the only option (rather not an option at all!). Compare it to the kids nowadays who'd rather watch Ben 10 or play computer games....

Everyone at some point in their childhood have played "mane mane aata" (playing house!) The girls would bring in their kitchen sets and the boys with their cars... As I recall, I don't think any girl has ever played the role of a working woman.. She would always play the dutiful wife cooking and cleaning the house while the man works hard at the office! And Vroom Vroom of his toy car indicates his return and the wife hurridly brings in the snacks with tea!!! When I look back and reflect on these games, I realise what a male chauvanistic society we were bought up in. We would always replay what our mother's did as a daily life... Thankfully times have changed... Cheers to Women Empowerment!!!!

Arrgh.. drifted away from the main topic of discussion (a deliberate move to make a point!!)

The food used for the games would typically be small grains, groundnuts and sometimes the infamous "ajji kudlu" or "buddi ke baal" which was nothing but disintegrated "soan papdi". The vendor would always bring it in a transparent bell jar and the "tin tin" of his bell would send us all out of our houses for 1 rupee of pure joy!!!

"ICE SPICE" !! ha ha ha ha.... I don't think any of us even knew back then that the game is "I SPY" But somehow no one ever bothered to correct us... and even today, kids play it with the same name.. Ice Spice which is the noun would even be turned into a verb. When someone got out.. the declaration would be.. " I ICE SPICED you" Good Lord!! what were we thinking!!

The other popular running games would be 'lock and key', 'sudden touch', 'cutting the cake', 'chain lock'..... I can't reall more right now... Each of these games would have a "denner".. Now I wonder how that word even originated!!!!... But no one would want to be the "denner" :)

" Kunte Bille" or Hopscotch was another favourite game of mine.. It tested so many skills at a time..:) how good one could aim.. sense of balance.. the art of picking up the "bacha" or the stone... And how we all pretended to not being able to see while walking with the closed eyes and asking "Am I right" as one moved from one house to another! we were all cheaters!! Ah .. Good Fun!

Lagori!!! Who can forget the wacks some of us got with those tennis balls.....

Much to the disgust of boys and their squirmed faces... We girls had so many hand games. We clapped, made actions with our hands.. sangs songs that co-ordinated with the hand movements.. (The boys were just plain jealous that they couldn't enjoy the games we played and how well we played them!!!!)
I can still recall some of the songs... They go like this... "Say say say , on the way we go... oh mama, she told me a 60 years ago, there came a lady knocking at the the door. She said a ooh aah, I want some ba, the ba is sweet I want some meat.The meat is rough... etc etc. Another one goes like this " Zip zap zoom.. Up together, down together, side together... etc etc.. ZIP ZAP ZOOM"!! We also had a hand game for a rhyme..." Yankee doodle went to town, riding on a pony. He stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni!!!"
Those were the good old days!!!

And how can I forget, the ever popular song to choose "The Denner".... "Inki Pinki Ponki.. Father had a donkey, donkey died, father cried, Inki Pinki Ponki" How adorable is that!!!!!

There are soooooo many games we played. And back then, we didn't require any gadgets or game cds to have a good time... Thermacol pieces became the dream cars of boys and could practically do anything one imagined. Kitchens, gardens would be raided for girlie games...

I'm sure you are also recalling your childhood games... I'll leave you to that..

Until the next post.... Happy Reminiscing... :)

1 Comments:

Blogger Shrutzz said...

CHEERS to this post - CHEERS to the amazing childhood - CHEERS to the beautiful Nostalgia that brings back those days!!!!

This post also bought back the recollections of Infy days for me, where it was always a gang of frens enjoying the food and the never ending talks....Seems like dine was just a reason to sit back and gush our thoughts...Loved them so much...

November 21, 2009 at 9:33 PM  

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