Memories have a strange power over people. There is no telling what seeps in and what gets filtered out. What you cling on to and what you let go. And suddenly years later you find yourself under some other skies, reminiscing over sights and sounds that you had thoughts were long forgotten.
We are living in a momentous times, New traditions and being crafted, new objects gaining relevance and new memories are being forged. It is like these that the power objects of bygone days become ever more relevant. Each a portal that takes us back to cherished memories of younger brighter days and back of lifestyles that are all but lost to the slippery sand of time. This beautiful collage of reverie and nostalgia emerged.
1. Glass Treasure
In the years from when I was nine or ten until I was twelve, I was obsessed with marbles. I set out from home every morning with a bulge in my pant pockets. The bulge would be the dozens of marbles i was carrying. As I descended the slightly steep path to my friends house, I would hitch my pants, which had dropped an inch or two under the marbles weights. Then we would begin our marble games. If I executed my strategies well, I would return home in the evening with a large bulge in my pockets.
2.Dandi Biyno
Dandi Biyo is not the Nepali national game, despite what you may have been told or believe. Trust me! We asked the sports authorities! It is, however, a game that truly originated from the play of cowherds and village boys. It is also known as Guli Danda in the Terai region.
The game consists of two sticks—the dandi and the biyo. The dandi is a long stick and the biyo is a stump one-fourth the size of the dandi with pointy ends. You hit the biyo with the dandi, flipping it up by striking the end. To decide who gets to go first the players must bounce the biyo on his dandi. The most number of bounces gets to play first. The objective of the game is to flick the biyo as far as you can from the base, which is a small groove on the ground. The player then goes to the biyo and hits it again while striking it as it leaps in the air.
3.Chungi
This game involves a lot of rubber and a lot of legwork. It is easier than dancing and probably cheaper, especially if the dancing you indulge in actually requires grace. Chungi is played using a rubber ball made up of rubber bands. It is similar to Hacky Sack.
The first objective of Chungi is to make a rubber ball (a chungi) that bounces just right. This involves buying a lot of rubber bands and tying them in the middle to create a ball that is slightly flat on the top and bottom. This helps with the balancing of the ball as you kick it with your feet. The rules of this game vary as you go along. The more traditional way of playing Chungi is to count the number of times you manage to bounce the chungi with your feet as you keep it up in the air. You are not allowed to use your hands during the process and should you accidently use your hands you are immediately disqualified from the game. Use of both feet is allowed as is using any other body part but remember: no hands!!
4.Seven Stones
The most popular name for this game is, indeed, ‘Seven Stones’, in English. This is the name you’ll hear screamed out in schoolyards across the country. Though in Hindi it might be called Pithoo, in Nepal it was always popularly called Seven Stones, never Saat Dunga or any other variation. The actual seven stones denotes seven stones and a ball.
The game is played by two teams, and the more players the merrier. The seven stones are arranged one on top of another to form a stack. Then, from a distance, the participants queue and in turns a player from each team throws the ball at the stack. Once the player manages to topple at least one stone from the stack the teams are divided, and the team that has toppled the stones becomes the ‘runners’, and the opposite team is the ‘chasers’.
The question remains, though: When was the last time that you took time out to play one of these games? Put away the laptop, the remote control and step outside. The weather is getting warmer and is perfect for a street game or two.
@retroo