Refelection: The Games children play!

SIHI 2007: The lessons that come from playing games

After experiencing the SIHI 2007 core module in a rural area of the Himalayas I leave with new experiences, memories, friendships, lessons, and discoveries, all of which have changed the perception I have of myself, and the world. Flying across the globe from Canada, I came expecting to be immersed in a culture where everything would be different; language, customs, traditions, beliefs, values, relationships, livelihoods and so on. It is true that differences do exist, but differences provide terrific opportunities for us to learn from each other. I have learned a lot about Canadian and Jaunsari cultures through cross cultural interactions in the form of recreational games and I will summarize my observations and personal lessons in the discussion to follow.

The first aspect of Jaunsari culture that struck me is the unwavering level of acceptance amongst the Jausari people toward everyone, outsiders and insiders alike. This is especially true for playing games. Despite our entire SIHI team’s inexperience with various Indian games such as KhoKho, Pithu, Indian style hop scotch and more (see the explanations of the games below this reflection) we were enthusiastically welcomed to play and treated with patience and understanding. At any time during the core module there was never any hesitation in the villages to let us participate in their games. When we would make mistakes they would never get angry, there would only be laughter and further explanation. Although many of the tribes are fairly isolated in the Himalayas, we were always welcomed with open arms. This may be because SIHI has been operating in the region for several years and has been able to develop a rapport with them, it may also be because we are white, but I feel the main reason is rooted in the Jaunsari culture of respect, love and community that extends across racial, cultural, religious, ethnic, economic and national boundaries. Although there are always exceptions, this starkly contrasts from my experiences in Canada. In Canada you can’t go up to a group of people playing basketball, hockey, hop scotch, tag, dodge ball etc. and receive the same level of acceptance and non-judgmental attitudes that you find in the Jaunsari culture. We like to associate ourselves with our circle of friends and are often hesitant to expand that circle outward especially if it means inviting differences in.

Secondly I have learned the tremendous value of time. There is a lot of material poverty in the area but it is made up for in the spirit of hospitality, community and friendship prominent in the Jaunsari culture. They offer us the gift of their time. Despite their grueling work schedules in the fields, schools and homes, it all stops when we enter a village. We are given no limit for how long we are able to interact; they stop when we stop. This gift is given in many forms, including through games. We visited a variety of schools and at each school, lessons would stop and the entire school community would gather around as we learned how to play their games and reciprocated by teaching them some Canadian games. When playing, it is easy to loose track of time, and differences and get caught up in a transcending spirit of sportsmanship. In fact even when school would end and children were allowed to go home, they still stayed to play with us until we were ready to stop. The gift of time is so precious, yet rarely given in Canada. We often seem to be in a rush for various appointments and daily tasks that we can only manage to give someone 10 minutes of our day. How often do we see someone and ask “How are you?” as we walk past them and don’t wait for their response? I know I am personally guilty of this. Has it ever happened that a group of people visit a Canadian school and all classes stop to meet and interact with them? If it has, it is very rare. Interacting with the Jaunsari culture through games as well as other means has made me very aware of our fast paced individualistic society. One way to change this is to try and practice giving the gift of time.

Lastly games provide a great opportunity for bringing people together. For instance, before interviewing a group of students we would try and learn to play a game. This would often act as an icebreaker and result in much more fruitful conversation since we were all more comfortable with each other. Games are also a great strategy to surpass the language barrier we were up against since most of us don’t speak Hindi. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words and interacting with the children through games reminded me of the myriad forms of communication beyond speech.

Games bring out the kid in everyone, and this experience has reminded me that we all need to take time to play and have fun. It doesn’t matter what resources we have available, with the right attitude we can create a fun time out of anything. For instance, here rocks and compressed plastic bags or socks are often used as toys needed for some of the games. A principal at one of the village schools warmly welcomed us saying that ‘When the Ganga and Yamuna rivers meet, it becomes a Holy place; this is also true when two cultures meet and we are very glad you are here”.

Through recreational activities I was able to enjoy cross cultural interactions, where we could learn from each other’s differences. The more I learned, I realized that we share many commonalities simply because of our human connection. I look forward to making changes in my own life and sharing my experiences with others.

Indian Games We have Played

1) Hop scotch Indian style

l There is a rectangle made of 6 squares

l the first person will take a stone and move it to each sqaure by standing on one foot. They will move in the length wise direction. When you get to the fourth square you can take a break and stand on two feet, but then you must continue on one foot again and finish to the end.

l The difficulty of this game is that both the rock and your foot cannot touch the lines and your foot can’t move to another square until the rock has.

l Once you have finished one round successfully you will throw the rock to the second square and start from there and then third and so on!

Similar to Canada’s hop scotch!

2) KhoKho

l There are two teams. One (let’s call them Sitting Team) sits down in a long line. The other, Standing team, runs around- avoiding being tagged by one of the members of the sitting team. Once tagged the players are out. Whichever team lasts longer is considered the winner.

l Several kids (approx. 6) of Sitting team squat in a line, facing opposite directions to the people on either side of them.

l Standing team kids can run around and through the sitting line, to avoid being tagged. But the one kid (of sitting team) who starts tagging them, is not allowed to run through the line. S/he must run around it. S/he runs short distances and quickly touches one of his squatting colleagues, who in turn gets up and tags any one close by. Their aim is to tag the other players standing up and running around them.

l The trick to this game is that the person who tags is not allowed to run between the people squatting- unlike the other players. S/he can only run around the entire group; however, s/he can trade places with anyone of the people squatting to help tag the other players out.

l This game takes some strategy, short bursts of intense energy and is a lot of fun!

No similarities that I can think of in Canada

3) Pithu

l There are 2 teams: 1 team throws a ball at a stack of rocks and tries to rebuild them, and the other team tries to peg members of the other team with the ball before they can rebuild the stack of rocks.

l The team throwing the ball to knock the rocks down in the first place has three chances to try and hit it. If they miss after the third try they are out.

l The team trying to peg members of the opposite team before rebuilding can occur can move about, and pass the ball to each other, but who ever has the ball in there hands is unable to move.

l If a person gets hit with the ball before the stack of rocks can be rebuilt they are out. However, if they get hit after the rocks have been rebuilt they are safe.

Similar to Canadian dodgeball!

3) Duck Duck Goose Indian style

l Everyone sits in a circle. Their focus should be on the middle.

l One person will walk along the parameters of the circle with a hanky in their hand. They will secretly drop the hanky behind one of the player’s who is sitting. If a player is suspicious that it is behind their backs they can look behind them. If the hanky is there, then they must chase after the other player and try and tag them. Once the first player reaches the open seat they are safe.

l If someone doesn’t realize that the hanky is behind them and the person who dropped it makes a full circle, they can beat the person with it.

Similar to Canadian duck duck goose!

By Patricia Golesevic (Trish)