Childhood Games - Stories from Grandmom's village

My grandmom (mothers mother) used to live 4 kilometres away from our house in a small village with my great grandmom. As a 7-year-old kid that was my favourite place to be with my two grannies. My summer vacations were spent there with all my cousins, uncles and aunts. She had a cute little mud house of two small rooms. Inside was the kitchen with lots of copper & brass utensils, a big stack of wood was stored behind the door for mud stove. She had a goat and a few chickens. There was another small room for them at the back of the house. The bathroom was out in the backyard covered with a bamboo fence with no ceiling cover. There was a small garden next to it where all the water from the bathroom would go. There was a lemon tree, banana tree and few flower plants. Her house was surrounded by houses of my uncles. It was a closed neighbourhood. All the farms would start immediately next from the houses only. There were many bigs trees surrounding those houses. Mango, jackfruit, tamarind, guava and a big banyan tree. I and my cousins would climb on those trees, try to reach to the top, hang and jump on other branches, eat fruits from it. In short all monkey business. There was a big well in that village where everyone would come to fetch water. All women would be carrying copper, brass & steel pots to fill water. One had to throw a bucket in the well attached to a rope and then pull it up through a pully. Every morning I would go with my grandmom to the well where I used to meet all my uncles & aunts. Then come back home and drink fresh goat milk. By the time it was noon I and my cousins would be ready to roll.

There were many games which we used to play in. One of them was where one person alone would play against the entire team. The rule was to announce a name of the object to touch and then try to catch the team members as they start running towards the object they are asked to touch. The entire team would stand together in front of the person who would announce a name. After listening to the name everyone would get scattered to find that object and you have to catch as many people as you can before they touch the object. That game was a big mess so we were warned not to give names of any object in the house, as everyone would barge into the houses creating a mess. So we used to ask for outside objects like mango tree, bucket in the bathroom, chicken, cows... etc.

One evening all my uncles, aunts & grandmoms were sitting outside chit-chatting. I and my cousins decided to play that Touch the Object game. My five cousins: Sandip, Babu, Sachin, Balu and Chingya were standing against me, ready to touch the objects. We started the game and they would just go and touch the things before I could catch them. They were doing exceptionally well that day. Maybe because their parents were sitting outside and watching them so they were doing too much of a show-off. Everyone was showing Olympic level skills while running and jumping. The game would last for 4-5 rounds and someone would get caught. But that time it was crossing 10 rounds and no-kill yet. I was getting frustrated as no one was coming close in my grip. They started teasing me and all my uncles, aunts and grandmoms started laughing at me. All team gathered together for the next round ready to hear the name of the next object. I closed my eyes just like a warrior does before shooting an arrow, as if I was standing on the battlefield. I opened my eyes with absolute trust that this time the name of this object to touch was going to destroy everyone making me the ultimate warrior of the game. And I shouted the name of the object to touch with all my strength: Chingya's Underwear.

My cousin Chingya was in complete shock to hear that. All my cousins were turned into a pack of wolves going for their hunt. My uncles, aunts and grandmoms were rolling on the floor laughing while Chingya was running to save his life, I mean his underwear. He knew all our cousins were not going to stop just after touching his underwear. I guess he was clearly imagining what was about to happen to him. He disappeared into the cornfield while cursing me. My cousin wolves followed him with their bloodthirsty eyes. Shortly, we heard Chingya's screams mixed with my cousin's evil laughter. Then they came out carrying the souvenir of what they were supposed to touch. I still remember Chingya calling us from the cornfields asking back the souvenir while we all were laughing our hearts out sitting in the backyard.

Games Enjoyed To The Fullest Always Stay In The Memories.