CHILDHOOD GAMES

As I sit in the verandah and watch children play in the evenings, peals of carefree laughter fill my ears, bringing back nostalgic memories of my childhood.

Watching children play games which do not ring a bell, I wonder....whatever happened to.....

Whatever happened to the marbles? Where are they? They were priceless possessions when I was a kid, do kids still play them? Do most kids now know what marbles are, have they ever seen one? Got to check the museum.

Children of the present generation I've noticed are different, even a toddler looks for a switch the moment you put a new toy in its hands.

Way back in college my roommate and I had once had this late night conversation about our childhood, how we used to play these strange games, singing nonsensical rhymes without any meaning...ignorance was indeed bliss.

"Oren jus n laymun so fora byalis allas gullas ah so maney, the grasis green and rozy ray, rember me till I am day, day, day" (orange juice and lemon sold for a penny, all the school girls are so many; the grass is green and the roses red, remember me till I am dead, dead, dead.) This was the most popular game, I must have played it at least a thousand times.

My roommate had an even better one, she comes from a very cold place in Sikkim, close to the China border. They did not have any shops or toys, yet they were happy just making strange buzzing sounds and tugging along a dead bulls horn tied to a string, from dawn to dusk, and again the next day, from dawn to dusk.

My husband's favourite pastime was riding on a buffalo's back and feeling like the king of all he surveyed. Unlucky me, I missed that pleasure. Gone are the innocent, carefree days.

Once I tried to teach my niece how to play 'Jackstones' (a game which is played with five pebbles, tossing up one and exchanging with another and so on...) It took me the whole afternoon but she could not get it right. Well, when there are so many new gizmos in the market which child would even want to try this inexpensive method of mastering hand-eye coordination.

Then again, I look back and realise, to each his own, times have changed and change is always for the better. OR IS IT? Give me back my childhood and I will live it just the way it was.