When we were kids !!
It was a lazy Saturday morning and as usual I got
up late, after lots of shouting I got from my mom. By the time I had my
breakfast it was already 12 in the noon. As I was about to leave for bath, my
mom gave me 2 chapatis to put it on the terrace, for the crows to eat. As I
went upstairs to the terrace, I remembered that I hadn’t washed my sports shoes
from a long time. So, I decided to finish this pending task as well before taking
bath. As I was filling water in the bucket (saving water you know :-) ) to wash
my shoes, I just leaned over the compound wall behind my terrace and saw some
kids playing there. It was burning hot there on the terrace, as the sun was
directly above my head. But those kids didn’t seem to notice this, or, they
were busy playing with lot of concentration. I got curious and just kept
watching them, as the water got filled into the bucket. They were playing the
“Teacher Game”.
I’m sure that most of you must have been a part of
this game during your childhood days, including me :-). There were 3-4 kids
playing the Teacher game. One of them who looked like the eldest among them was
the “Teacher”. He was standing with a cane stick in one hand and a chalk piece
in the other. Two other kids were seated on the floor with a note book in their
hands. The “Teacher” was shouting at them by making some actions with the stick
and writing something on the “board”. Oh, I forgot to mention about the “board”
here. There was a huge iron box kept on the terrace of their home. It seemed
like an old cupboard. The children had made one of the cupboard sides as their
“board” of their class. Yes, that was a mini classroom I can say :-). The
“Teacher” was writing and shouting and the other 2 children were busy writing
down whatever he said.
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| During one of the 'Teacher Game' |
I started washing my shoes now, in the burning sun,
remembering those days when I used to play such games with my cousins, who are
my childhood friends as well :-). We were about 8 cousins, among whom I was the
eldest. Two of them, eldest among the remaining group, along with me were the 3
teachers of our “Class” in the “Teacher Game” that we played. Two of them
didn’t play any games and were only crying for some or the other reasons. So
they didn’t participate in our game most of the times. The only remaining were
our 3 “Students”, who promptly sat and wrote down whatever “lessons” we thought
them in the “Class”. I loved Mathematics and so I was the Maths “Teacher”.
Among the remaining “Teachers”, one of them was a General Science “Teacher” and
other was the Social Science “Teacher”. We had only 3 subjects in our “school”.
This game we usually played in my grandmother’s house, where all of us used to
gather during any holidays. My mom and my aunt, along with my grandparents and
other people were busy chit-chatting about various stuffs of life (as we do now
:-\) in the ground floor of their house. Our groups of kids went to the 1st
floor and usually played there. We had bought a mini black board, just for this
game itself and hanged it to the wall (by removing one of the God’s photo frame
hehe :D). Each of our class was for 10 minutes, after which the “bell” rang.
The “bell” for our “school” was a trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound made by the
“Teacher” taking the next period. All 3 “Teachers” used to take one class each
and we used to go to our “home”. Yeah, the “Teachers” had a separate “home” and
the “students” had a separate “home”. Poor “students”, they used to write down
whatever stuff we “taught” in the “class”. During these “classes”, I still
remember one instance where I was “fed up” of one of my “student” as he hadn’t
done his “homework” and beat him with the stick on his hand. I don’t know if I
hit him so hard, but he started crying and left the game. My brother who is like
a chaddi-dost to him, also went away leaving the game. Now only one who was
left was one student, who also seemed least interested to sit in the “class”
alone. So we had to cancel the game :-(
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| Fun during the good old days |
I finished washing my shoes and placed them in one
corner for them to dry and came back to see how the “class” was going on behind
my house. They were still playing in the scorching sun. Unable to bear the
burning sun anymore, I went downstairs to have bath, with all the childhood
memories in my mind. It feels so nice to remember those lovely days of
childhood. One of the “Teacher” of our game has already a year old kid now, but
I still see a “teacher” in her. I wish we were still kids even now to enjoy,
without any tensions of life :-).
How many of you have played such games which are still
memorable to you even now ? :-)
