I wonder why growing up makes playing take an automatic backseat when there are so many advantages associated with it. I often marvel at the beauty of various games we would play as kids in childhood. No, it wasn't always the unofficial national sport of cricket or the official Olympic sports of badminton or tennis. No doubt, we would play such games as well but then we had a whole host of other games that were equally and at times more fun. I'm sure many of us have memories of playing such stuff. These games are handed over from generation to generation of people who have grown up playing them and in the process they undergo a great deal of evolution! This post is about one such game I played for years together as a kid
We would call it 'Gallery'. It had us kids waiting for the clock to turn 5pm so that we could rush to the grounds and play our hearts out! We would go to sleep thinking of the exciting moments on the field that evening and spend time day-dreaming during the school periods, about the upcoming evening's thrills trying to implement the team's new strategy. I'm not sure how many of you have played this game or perhaps played it under a different name but this is one game that exercised mind and body alike while developing team-spirit, physical agility and mental alertness.
'Gallery' comprised of 2 teams of about 8-10 people each. We would draw boundaries defining the zones in which the 'chasers' and 'runners' teams can move. It was a kind of huge grid spread over several metres. While the chasers had a series of consecutive 'galleries' to protect from trespassing , the runners had to try and conquer gallery after gallery without being caught until they conquered the final one. The excitement for the runners was about dodging the chasers while for the chasers, it was about using the earmarked zones as cleverly as possible to trap the runners. Gosh, one awesome game it was and I still feel it should get an official entry into the Olympics !
Several post-playtime evenings and lunch breaks at school were spent trying to figure out how to improvise the game or framing rules that would make it more challenging and fun. Exam times were a pain as we would fidget at our study-tables itching to go out and play ! And once the exams were done, the joy was limitless as we would all flock together again to bring back the energetic sessions of playtime.
The pulse of any sport or game lies in the excitement it generates as the players use their mental and physical strengths along with fine-tuned techniques to outwit the other team. Whether you win or lose doesn't matter as long as you've had a good time. Healthy sportsmanship and an overall sense of being fit are the other key rewards of such games. These days there is a lot of debate and discussion about the lack of adequate sporting facilities in our country. While steps should be taken to address these issues, people (especially kids) need not hold back themselves from trying out their own local versions of various games just because they do not have enough facilities nearby. It is an alarming trend to see kids glued to the television for hours watching violent cartoons or playing video games that only teach destruction. The benefits of physical and healthy play are manifold and several times better than such sedentary activities. It doesn't matter if you don't have a sports club or a swimming pool nearby; just find some space, invent your own run-around games and feel the thrill of being a sportsperson!
We would call it 'Gallery'. It had us kids waiting for the clock to turn 5pm so that we could rush to the grounds and play our hearts out! We would go to sleep thinking of the exciting moments on the field that evening and spend time day-dreaming during the school periods, about the upcoming evening's thrills trying to implement the team's new strategy. I'm not sure how many of you have played this game or perhaps played it under a different name but this is one game that exercised mind and body alike while developing team-spirit, physical agility and mental alertness.
'Gallery' comprised of 2 teams of about 8-10 people each. We would draw boundaries defining the zones in which the 'chasers' and 'runners' teams can move. It was a kind of huge grid spread over several metres. While the chasers had a series of consecutive 'galleries' to protect from trespassing , the runners had to try and conquer gallery after gallery without being caught until they conquered the final one. The excitement for the runners was about dodging the chasers while for the chasers, it was about using the earmarked zones as cleverly as possible to trap the runners. Gosh, one awesome game it was and I still feel it should get an official entry into the Olympics !
Several post-playtime evenings and lunch breaks at school were spent trying to figure out how to improvise the game or framing rules that would make it more challenging and fun. Exam times were a pain as we would fidget at our study-tables itching to go out and play ! And once the exams were done, the joy was limitless as we would all flock together again to bring back the energetic sessions of playtime.
The pulse of any sport or game lies in the excitement it generates as the players use their mental and physical strengths along with fine-tuned techniques to outwit the other team. Whether you win or lose doesn't matter as long as you've had a good time. Healthy sportsmanship and an overall sense of being fit are the other key rewards of such games. These days there is a lot of debate and discussion about the lack of adequate sporting facilities in our country. While steps should be taken to address these issues, people (especially kids) need not hold back themselves from trying out their own local versions of various games just because they do not have enough facilities nearby. It is an alarming trend to see kids glued to the television for hours watching violent cartoons or playing video games that only teach destruction. The benefits of physical and healthy play are manifold and several times better than such sedentary activities. It doesn't matter if you don't have a sports club or a swimming pool nearby; just find some space, invent your own run-around games and feel the thrill of being a sportsperson!
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