Mohmad Iqbal Khandy
“Those who play rarely become brittle in the face of stress or lose the healing capacity for humor.” – Stuart Brown,
Change is the law of nature. Everything changes with the passage of time. We have witnessed travelling long distances in buses. We have seen listening music on radios, watching programmes on B&W televisions, waiting throughout the night for Hindi movies, capturing photos by film cameras and waiting weeks for their print, listening music on shops on high volume speakers and so on. Now we don’t have time and can’t put up with to travel in buses, don’t have patience to listen radio or watch TV to stick in particular room. We feel odd to listen on high volume speakers. All the things have been restricted in one or other way. So many gadgets replaced these things as time passed. We are the kids of 90’s. we used to play hide and seek, hopscotch, pithoo, kho kho, match-box cards, jumping rope, desi shuttle-cock etc. All these games almost do no longer exist. The kids are now enjoying online games which ruined their health, time and many more. The children has became lazy, frail, ignorant and what not. The games of our times were full of energy, stamina, confidence, skills, and creativity. Among the old games, playing marble balls was one of the famous. This is the game to which our childhood anamnesis is bound. I was one of the kids who loved to play it.
The game was regarded as abortive, vagrancy and time wasting exercise. I still remember that one of our uncle used to search us playing throughout the day and if caught red handed, we were punished a lot. Even teachers of that time used to castigate us on playing the game. Marble balls were called in native language as ‘BAANT FOEL’ or ‘LAAL FOEL’. Laal means ‘a precious diamond’. There were different colours and sizes of these balls. The bigger sized balls were called as ‘DUBLEH’ and the smaller sized ones were called as ‘BICX’. Their price was on the basis of their size. We used to store them in socks sacks which were called as ‘GOCXED”. To play the game we needed a minimum of two players and there was no maximum limit. A small hole was dug 2-3 cm deep on a flat surface of land which was called as ‘GOET’. The game was played in different ways. In the first way, a line was drawn about 3m away from the hole. Players stand on the line and through their marble balls towards the hole. The person who gets closest to the hole was considered as first. The rule was applied to all. Near the distance to the hole near was the serial number to play. After getting the serial numbers, all players lend the balls and were arranged around the hole to make a semicircle or a full circle depending upon the number of marble balls. Then, the players used to hit them from the line drawn. If any ball was hit without going into the hole, all the balls were won by the player. And if one, two or more balls went into the hole, the player was fined with same number of balls.
“Creativity in children through play is essential. A shift where children are now often encouraged to play outdoors, in contrast to earlier times. Parents and teachers should prioritize making time for daily play and allow children to choose their own activities, rather than directing them. The key is to encourage outdoor play often and, ideally, join in the fun.”
In the second way of playing, after getting the serial numbers, the players collected the balls and threw one by one or all together into the hole. The balls that fell into the hole were considered won by the player. The rest of the balls were thrown by another player on their own turn. In the third way of playing, one of the players used to mark serial numbers on land and hide them. Then the others were called to choose the lines, and the respective serial numbers were disclosed. After getting the serial numbers, the players used to get their positions around the hole. This method of playing marble balls was quite different from the first two. Here, the players used their middle finger and the thumb to play. The thumb to touch the mark and the middle finger was used to hit the ball of opponents by holding the ball with the other hand. I still remember the name Bilal Ahmad, the boy of our village, who was considered as king of this game. He was a lefty and was able to target the balls at any distance. I always preferred to be with him so as to win more and more marble balls. In the solo games, I used to be his collector.
If seen in the modern context, the game is full of perk. Playing marble balls improves the precision and control of hand and finger movements, and eye hand coordination. It helps to improve fine motor and gross motor development. Teamwork and social interaction promoted by this game is essential in collaborative work environments. Creativity is one of the most important skills we can encourage in our children by playing this game. Literally, we should encourage our children to play this traditional game so that it benefits them in one or other way. Undoubtedly, the time has changed, we were coerced not to play and remain indoors and now the children are constrained not to remain indoors and play the games outside. So, making time for play every day is important. Parents and teachers should not direct children to play. They should allow their children to choose how, what and when they play. They should encourage children to play outdoors often and where possible, join in the activity.
(The author a JK-UT best teacher awardee is a teacher at Govt Middle School Badray, Vailoo, District Anantnag. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
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