CHENNAI : In February, the tamarind tree blooms — its branches heavy with the rich tamarind fruit, brown, juicy, tangy, and sweet to just the right degree. Tamarind is a popular flavour in our cuisine particularly in the South where the most mouthwatering rasams and sambars tantalise the taste buds and tickle our senses. Tamarind is virtually present in every kitchen.
Traditionally, most homes had a tamarind tree and when the fruit was picked and the pulp cleaned away, the seeds would pile up — a perfect inspiration to build a game around it. And that’s exactly what our forefathers did. They built a number of fascinating games around the tamarind seed — games that could keep you occupied for hours on end.
The seeds of the tamarind are black and shaped like irregular rectangles, smooth to touch and the perfect size and weight for little fingers. Various games have been played around the tamarind seed. One of the most popular games involves piling the seeds into a heap on the ground and blowing them apart. The seeds are then picked one by one taking care to not disturb another seed while picking. Naturally, the seeds that are scattered widely by blowing are the easiest to pick.
Variations of the game exist including tossing the seeds up while picking another from the ground. Seeds thus picked are often grouped and the one to pick the most seeds wins the game.
Yet another variation is to conceal a few seeds in your hand and ask your opponent to guess if it’s an odd number or an even number. This ability of the opponent to guess, is based partially on luck and partially on the knowledge of a player. Interestingly, though this game has been played for years in India, similar games have been known to be played across the world.
Edgar Alan Poe in his story The Purloined Letter has the detective refer to this game and use it to illustrate how he was able to find a hidden letter. The detective talks of it being a popular game among school children, but does not refer to tamarind seeds but rather marbles as the small objects concealed in the hand.
Tamarind seeds have also been used as game pieces in some games such as the Pallanguzhi or Vamanaguntulu. They have also been cut in half and used as dice in place of cowrie shells. When cut in half, the inner white side of the seed shows up. Based on the fall of the cut seeds, points are ascribed to the throw.
The tamarind itself gets its name from the Turkish word Tamar-i-hind or Indian date; a name ascribed to it perhaps by those who saw its vague semblance to the Persian date. However, when they realized the difference in taste, they perhaps renamed it.
Today, with homes getting smaller and apartment buildings becoming the norm, the Tamarind tree is fast, quickly disappearing from our residential neighbourhoods. Tamarind comes in boxes or bottles, and sometimes even as a pulp, so most children never get to see the tree, the fruit or even the seed. Yet, this humble seed can provide countless hours of play and a wide variety of games.
Do you or anyone in your family know of games played with tamarind seeds? Do write to me at vinita@kreedagames.com and share those wonderful games so they can be made available to future generations.
Vinita Sidhartha
vinita@kreedagmes.com
The writer is an author and the founder of Kreeda, an organisation reviving traditional games