“GULLY” sports of India

India is a country where a person can play different game in every day. The traditional ‘gully’ sports are ‘Kancha’, ‘Gilli Danda’, ‘Pitthoo’, ‘Kho Kho’, ‘Langra Tang’, ‘Lattu’ and Fight of the Kites. The games are quite popular till the date as the young kids are engaged in playing those games. Most of the sports are team game and it requires skill of the players to play the game in a very smooth manner.

There are rules and regulations for every single game which are to be followed by the players, but the rules are quite simple. The games can be played by both girls and boys, to meet the number of players they can also play together.

The kancha is the game of marbles where the object of playing is to collect as many as you can by striking the opponent’s marbles. The marbles are easily available in any locality which is the only object in the game. These marbles are very cheap in cost and it can be easily afforded by the small kids.

The Gilli Danda is the game of team where the game is played with a small piece of wood tapered on both sides known as gilli and a larger piece of wood that is used to strike the gilli known as Danda. The object of the game is to get the gilli as far away from the home base as possible. The rules are amazingly similar to cricket and in some way it is a crude form of the more popular sport.

The Pitthoo is a simple and fun game where the players are divided into two teams. A small stack of flat stones and a ball are the two things required in this game. Each team takes their turns at toppling the stack and then they run while the other team has to hit/touch each of the players in the opposing team with the ball. If the team that takes their shot at the stack manage to rebuild the stack before they are hit/touched by the ball then they win. Any player who is hit is out of the game.

The Kho-Kho is a popular tag game of 12 players. Teams are required to chase down and tag the players of the opposite team to win this game. The chasing team sends out nine players onto the field and they sit in a straight line with alternate players facing opposite sides, chasers have to make sure that they catch the runners before the stipulated time which is usually around 9 minutes per inning.

The Langra Tang is a team game in which the players in a defined area one person hops on one leg and tries to catch all the other players.

 The lattu or the spinning top is a popular game that is played in many parts of India even today. It is a game that simply involves spinning a wooden lattu which has grooves in its lower half and a nail at the bottom to spin on. A cotton string is wrapped around the grooves on the lower half and deploying it makes it spin.

Kites are a popular choice for kids in many parts of the world. Children in rural India make their own kites and fly them. Kite flying duels are a common thing with children and there are also some festivals that involve flying of kites. Besides that some tournaments are also organized for kite flying in many parts of the country.