Gilli-Danda : A Vanishing Indian traditional Game

GILLI DANDA is an amateur sport played in the rural areas and small towns all over India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as Cambodia, Turkey and Italy. The game is played with two sticks: a large one called a danda, which is used to hit a smaller one, the gilli.

Gilli Danda is an ancient sport of India, possibly with origins over 2500 years ago. It is believed to be the origin of Western games such as cricket, baseball and softball.
Number of players

Unlike modern games, any number of players or teams can play this game. That’s precisely the difference between the western and Indian games. However, it is preferred that you have only two teams to avoid unnecessary fights.

Resources Required :-

1)      Gilli – a 3 to 6 inches long stick, one inch diameter at the center and tapered at both ends.

2)      Danda – a 2 to 3 feet long stick , one inch in diameter

Steps Followed To Play :-

1)      Divide the players into two teams. Let any of the two players be the captains.

2)      Toss a coin. The team which wins the toss can select batting or fielding but not both.

3)      Make the circle with a hole in the centre where the batsman will bat.

4)      The player of the batting team will use danda to bat, while fielding team is spread in the ground to field. There is no bowler in this game.

5)      The batsman hits the gilli at one tapered ends with his danda, and quickly strikes it.

6)      If the batsman strikes the gilli which no fielder is able to catch, then the danda is used to measure the distance from the circle to the point where gilli fell. Each danda’s length adds one point to the batting team.

7)      If the batsman is unable to strike the gilli in 3 continuous chances, the batsman is out.

8)      If the batsman strikes the gilli and the fielder catches it before it touches the ground, then the batsman is out.

9)      The next player of his team comes to bat.

10)   Repeat the above steps unless all the players of the batting team are out. Calculate their total points.

11)   Now the fielding team will bat and the batting team will start fielding. The above steps for the batting team will remain the same.

12)   The team with maximum score will win the match

Skills Needed
This traditional Indian game requires exceptional hand-eye coordination, ability to catch and strong wrists.

The Current State
As it is the case with many Indian traditions, Gilli-Danda is slowly evaporating off India. The advent of Cricket, busy lifestyle and the sedentary modern life have all lead to the decline of the game that was once a popular childhood game in India.The Hindi writer Premchand in his short story “Gilli-Danda” used this very game as a tool to dwell into the stark differences between old and modern times and also to portray the caste inequality in India.

Chungi : How To Make & Play

The kids make them from old bike/bicycle tires by cutting them into thin rubber bands or simply using many rubberbands and tying them with a string.

How to play
Playing chungi is as easy when it comes to rules. You just bounce the chungi with your foot, right, left or both, as many times as possible without letting it touch the ground. Once you are comfortable doing this, you can experiment with the game play.

     Step wise- 

• Gently drop the chungi in front of you.
• Use the inside of the foot, almost directly in the center of your shoe where the arch of your foot is, to kick the it directly straight up. 
• Angle your ankle so that the inside of the foot is parallel to the ceiling. This will ensure that the bag will go directly up and not off to the side. It helps to bend the other standing leg as well. After one kick, catch the chungi in your hand. 
• Repeat dropping, kicking, and catching until you are consistently kicking it straight up. 
• Next, try kicking the bag using alternating feet and no hands. See how many you can do in a row

Also try Outside kick: Gently drop the chungi with your arm outstretched to the side, and use the middle of the outside of the foot to kick it. This is harder to do, but remember the tips above – angle your ankle to keep the outside of the foot parallel to the ceiling, and bend the standing leg.

When in a group, you can form a circle, each person bounces the chungi a few times and passes it on to another, who will do the same. The object of the game is to let the chungi be in play as long as possible while being passed on from one person to another. A variation of this could be with a straight line drawn on the ground with two teams on either side, passing the chungi across. The opposing team gains a point if the chungi drops to the ground on your side.

Another variation would be to have someone play goalkeeper while the rest bounce the chungi a few times and then shoot the chungi across the goalkeeper to score goals.

--ENJOY--