Let’s play with bangles

From shells to seeds, Indian traditional games revolve around commonly found items. Here is a game played with bangles.
Bangles are intrinsically interwoven with Indian heritage and culture.
Bangles are intrinsically interwoven with Indian heritage and culture. Vinita Sidhartha
Updated on
2 min read

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of many traditional games is how they are played with things found around us. Cowrie shells or tamarind seeds scraped on the ground with the white side showing up or bamboo cut in half to make throw pieces, stones, pebbles and seeds as game pieces were quite the norm. While there are many specially created items for our Indian traditional games, many can be played by merely drawing a grid on the ground in case of board games or using items lying around us. Perhaps one of the most creative items that has been is bangles.

Bangles are intrinsically interwoven with Indian heritage and culture. Bangle sellers with their bright wares are a part of the landscape of every city. So much so, even Sarojini Naidu was inspired to write a poem called ‘The Bangle Sellers’: Bangle sellers are we who bear

Our shining loads to the temple fair...

Who will buy these delicate, bright

Rainbow-tinted circles of light?

Glass bangles play a strong role in most traditional attire and customs. Their breaking was taken for granted and in some cases even considered symbolic. Considering this, there were broken glass bangles in every home. While it may not be considered safe today, broken bangles were used in many games.

Perhaps the fascination with the colour and gleam of the bangle led many to collect the broken pieces and save them, thus inspiring the game itself. These bangles were tossed in a heap and had to be carefully separated one by one without disturbing the others. The winner was the one who picked the most pieces in this way. This Chudi Ka Khel is a fairly common game across many rural homes in India.

Still, broken bangles could potentially hurt and therefore, not the most recommended item of play. The same game can however be played by substituting seeds or sticks and is played in this manner in many parts of the country.

However, there is another delightful game which is played with whole bangles. It requires a group of about 10-12 bangles of different colours. These bangles are held on the palm, then tossed up lightly, and caught on the back of the hand. Then with careful manoeuvring they are threaded onto the fingers. It requires a great deal of concentration and exceedingly delicate fine motor skills and movements to capture these on the fingers.

It is incredible how much joy one can find with just a set of bangles. The creativity of our ancestors, the imagination that was part of their lives, that helped them codify the most wonderful of games with merely items lying around the house is truly to be admired. All we can do is continue to play those games as a toast to them.

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