Wednesday, December 07, 2005

game for it..

Do kids play as much as we did in our times? I doubt it. Well, I do see kids running around in family-dos and other social gatherings, but they seem to be doing only that - run around. But do these guys play the games we used to? 'ice-pice', 'laal pathar', 'satkhopdi', 'kith-kiththa'(essentially a girls' game) and there are so many others. I know most of these games by their hindi/bihari names, but am sure they are the same for kids all over the country. Oh, what fun. And we used to enjoy playing these games in summer and especially on a moonlit night. 'Satkhopdi' was a favorite with us guys. Also marbles. And oh yes, tops.. we used to call these crazy li'l things lattu. I remember once my father had made one such top for me. He'd taken great pains to make me one and boy, were the other guys envious of me. See, as kids the novelty or pride was not in the sleekness of such toys but the crude, home-made kinda feel. They'd gun me for my top, borrowing every now and then...made me feel really special. And then there was this neighboring kid who had a real 'clint-eastwood'ish toy pistol. It had this really long barrel and was metallic black. *sigh*, I don't mind owning one like that even at this age (only the cops and anti-terrorist squad would be on my trail now). And those kite flying sessions. Sheer pleasure. Having lived in a colony, we kids were a real close-knit gang and always upto something or the other. We'd climb trees, walls and steal fruits and we'd wait eagerly for festivals when we could really test our limits as mischief-mongers. We had a great time with all these games. I for one, wouldn't have imagined a childhood without these. We had so much to look forward to.

And then came the TV.

9 comments:

Prerona said...

its not just tv ... its a lot of other things. lot of people these days arent allowed outr as much or as freely as we were in our times. there are all kinds of fears, for children, that were unheard or or un-taken-so-seriously in our days. its very sad as i think its a great loss for the kid concerned, as this is the first and most imp platform were u learn team skills and group behaviour. and then there's tv, as well. sigh!

but on the flip side, kids these days get a lot of info and education from tv. hopefully, by the time they grow, maybe society will evolve so much that those team skills wont be SO imp?

i dunno. i'm talking rubbish. nice post :)

phatichar said...

pre: no no..i understand ur point.. :) yeah, we're moving into a more cautious world now..and that has it's good and bad side, like everything else has...

Sudipta Chatterjee said...

Yeah... but well, phatichar, you are already moving into the "good-old-days" mode. Abhi to aap jawaan ho ;)

BTW, I guess that still happens in the semi-urban places and towns. I think the most important thing that caused this has been the decrease in living space where you could enjoy a monkey-like childhood. Essentially, this has triggered the need for the couch-based PC games, the Xbox, and maybe TV has added to the temptation.

d4u said...

hehe..this reminds me of the long list of games that i used to play "sunday monday", "karvanti", "dodgeball", "crocodile crocodile","red letter","apple mango" etc etc...wat days..really...had loads of fun

phatichar said...

sudipta: hmmm... point noted :)

deeps: :) wonder years indeed, huh?

manuscrypts said...

pokemon..super mario... doom... virtuality is in.. reality suffers :)

Akruti said...

Hmmm,Icepice,skipping,kabaddi,gillidanda { i played it} Lattu,Marbles,five stones,i still have my marlbes and fivestones with me,infact the skipping also.today i hardly see children playing outside,maybe sometimes cricket,Today its all electronic and mechanical life,TV,video games and Barbie dolls,sigh! ! ! Those were the days.

teacup said...

my parents never let me go out to play, so i never really 'enjoyed' my childhood...as in the games and playing outdoors stuff...today,i really feel like i missed an important part of my life, childhood memories are the most precious i think, even the silly ones...it's really sad that today parents give imp to things like dance classes,guitar lessons etc wen they shuld infact let the children play outdoors more...also there's lot of pressure on kids today...my neighbour disconnected the cable coz her two year old wouldn't study for his pre-nursery exams!!!

phatichar said...

Parna: it's sad, because these are the very pleasures that prepares a kid to handle stress upon growing up (group issues, peer pressure, the zeal to perform well in a game)

manuscrypts: virtual reality :)

Akruti: u can say that again..

aboli: hmmmm, true..