Street Games Of India: Common Games Played on Streets

Street Games Of India

Book Name: Some Street Games Of India
Author: Mulk Raj Anand
Publisher: National Book Trust

Street Games Of India: Ankhmicholy (Blind Man’s Buff)

An elder girl cousin taught it to me when I was about three-years-old. She asked me to close my eyes with the palms of my hands and…

The game I enjoyed most was Ankhmicholy or blind man’s buff. An elder girl cousin taught it to me when I was about three-years-old. She asked me to close my eyes with the palms of my hands. And she hid somewhere. Then she called to me to come and find her. I had cheated. I had kept my fingers loose to see where she had gone. But I ran here and there: in the verandah and into all the rooms. I didn’t want to find her till she half showed herself behind the charpoy (Coat or the bed). And when I caught her I laughed and shrieked as though I had found her after really looking for her everywhere.

As I grew up, I found that this game required more skill when played with many boys. Each one was so clever at hiding that the blind-folded one roamed about, near the others, hearing them shout, but unable to touch anyone. The ‘judge’, who closed the eyes of the finder, kept the palms of his hands glued tight to the finder’s face, till long after everyone had hidden. Usually the youngest was chosen to find the older boys. And often the game was used as a trick by the older ones when they didn’t want a little one to play with them. They shut his eyes and ran far away to play another game. I remember being left to weep alone many a time.

But having learnt the tricks of the game, I was able to play it well with the little girls of the village. I came to know that this was the game that Lord Krishna played with Radha and the milk-maids. I played this game with zest even when I became older.