HYDERABAD: In a generation that lines up in queues to get the latest iPhone or PlayStation, that spends hours on the internet reading up on the latest app or game, old school games like Ashtachamma, Vaikuntapali (Snakes and ladders) and Puli-Meka (Tiger gambling) barely register with them.
Though many a grand parent will re-tell fond memories of how keen a player they were or how deft their throw-of-dice was, kids these days do not spare the time to learn these games.
But Uma Challa refuses to let these die out and has taken the effort to bring them back in vogue.
Organising the event Aadadaama Ashtachamma next Sunday, the effort will be towards introducing, teaching and playing these board games with little children.
Explaining her interest, she tells us, “’Aadadaamaa Ashtaachammaa?’ was the most common question that my brother and I used to ask each other during holidays, when we were kids. I remember both of us waiting for our parents to leave for work, and we would sit and play for hours on end. The phrase brings back lot of fond memories. So, I decided to use it as the title for my new activity of introducing good old Indian board games to the present generation.”
Among the others, the session will include Vaamana Gumtalu, Daadi and Jodimchu, games that will not only interest children as well as adults.
While kids may argue that today’s combat games require high levels of concentration and good to excellent hand-eye coordination, our old school games were no less educational.
“Most people see games as a good way to keep children occupied and to promote the spirit of competition. Board games do much more than that. They not only help beat boredom, but they also help enhance a number of skills like focusing/concentrating, thinking, planning, complex counting and calculating (mental maths and probability) and strategising,” explains Uma.
She goes on to add that Vaaamana Gumtalu is a game which also helps children hone their mathematical skills - both counting and calculating mentally while Daadi is a game which involves alignment of pawns by the players, which enhances spatial understanding, memory and reasoning.
“Vaikumthapaali, which is supposed to be a 16th century board game is much more profound than most people are aware of. It has a very profound philosophical and spiritual basis. It demonstrates that when one exercises his virtues and does good karma, he will ascend a ladder (sopaanam), thus moving closer to salvation (parama padam or moksham), and when one gives into his vices or does bad karma, he will bring upon himself his own destruction,” she explains of another game.
Considering that these games are rather bland in nature when compared to their contemporary peers, especially given that the new age gaming is only as good as the special effects in it, Uma feels that the old trumps new in terms of the actual learning one takes away from it.
“All these games are meant to make us understand that there is more to life than winning or losing or reaching a destination ahead of everyone else. They are meant to teach us that the journey -- the thinking and the learning that happens along the way -- is more important than the destination.”
She also adds that medical research suggests that playing board games improves mental health, and reduces the risk of age-related mental illnesses like Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
With the main significance of the program aimed at bringing attention back to interactive board games as a means of sharpening children’s minds, Uma also hopes to draw attention to our culture as well. “Also, through these games, I hope to provide an opportunity for people of different generations to interact, bond and learn from each other.”
Looking forward to kids taking to board games with an open mind, she hopes they will also think of them with as much fondness as she does.
Aadadaama Ashtachamma will be held on June 1 from 11 am to 12 noon at Our Sacred Space, Secunderabad. It will be repeated every month, on the first Sunday.
For more details, one may contact 90300 13344 or log on to www.oursacredspace.in.