Traditional Fun and Games.

 

Kombea Zuz

Image Credits: Ancestral Goa

The youth of yesteryears (without electricity or gadgets) used imagination and creativity to keep themselves entertained. Much to my delight, while scrolling online, I found a number of interesting traditional Goan games.

The first game that caught my attention was 'Kombea Zuz'(Cock Fight), which  I thought meant cocks fighting. It involved youth, with one leg folded, in a circle drawn with chalk on the ground and attempting to push each other, either out of the circle or cause the opponent to unfold his/her leg. The last one standing wins!

Bounro

Image Credits: Ancestral Goa

There was a time I was obsessed with Beyblades-"Let It Rip”! Little did I know that these have an ancestor- The 'Bounro', a wooden cone with a nail at the bottom tip. A length of string is wrapped around the top, and pulled by the player which causes the top to spin.The person whose top out spins others, wins.

Logorio

Image Credits: Goan Forgotten Games Wordpress

Logorio (7 stones/tiles) -The game is played in 2 teams. One team is the ‘keepers’, and the other- ‘strikers’.  The keepers pile 7 tiles one on top of the other in a stack and the strikers try with a tennis ball to break this stack. Each player in the strikers’ team gets 3 chances to knock the tiles down, they do so by standing at a marked distance and aiming for the stack. If the keeper standing guard behind the tiles catches the ball after one bounce alone, that striker’s turn ends there. If a striker is successful in breaking the pile, the striker team then disperses, the keeper team assumes the role of fielders. The striker’s aim is now to reconstruct the broken pile of tiles while avoiding getting hit by the ball. The keepers try to keep the strikers from re-building the stack by trying to hit the players of the striker team with the ball. If the ball hits the strikers’ legs below the knee and the arm below the elbow, the player is not out, anywhere else on the body is considered out. The strikers may kick the ball away from the keepers, but the keepers may not break down a tile stack as it is being assembled by the strikers. Once all the 7 tiles are piled in a stack, the striker team must shout out ‘Logori’, the game ends there. The strikers are declared winners. The keepers can also win the game if they successfully hit any one player of the strikers’ team with the ball, also if when the tiles are struck, during the first part of the game, if any keeper catches the ball after one bounce, the keepers win that game. 

Bangle Bits

Image Credits: Nivedita's Kitchen Blog

Bangle Bits- Players release a handful of broken bangle bits onto the space, and attempt to remove the pieces one at a time, without shifting any other piece. The one who collects the most bangle bits wins.The next time you have broken bangle bits, you know what to do with them!

Cartanim- This game was played with a couple of empty  cigarette boxes (smoking is injurious to health!). A box was thrown from a distance, and the player had to throw another one, partly or fully over the first one. If he succeeded, all the cigarette boxes would be his! 

Other than these, there are a few more: Godde (Marbles), Fatranim (5 Stones), Attya Pattya (Hopscotch), Biyanni(Cashew Nuts) etc

You might find these games silly in this day and age but if you do get an opportunity to gather a group of friends, have fun playing! I sure will!

-Lauren  Divya

Sources: 

1) Ancestral Goa. http://www.ancestralgoa.com/ancestralgoa-goan-games.htm

2) Games in Goa. https://sites.google.com/site/choiceholidaysgoa/sightseeing-in-goa/games-in-goa