Friends, our country has been a birthplace and a land of action for great personalities, brimming with virtues like sages, poets, writers, and musicians, for centuries. The thousands of works created by these great individuals are invaluable. Today's youth, in this digital age, seem to be lost somewhere, and we are drifting farther from our heritage and invaluable treasures. subkuz.com consistently strives to bring you not only these priceless treasures, but also entertaining stories, news, and information from across the world. Presented before you is one such invaluable story, highly inspiring, written by the renowned author Munshi Premchand.
Gulli-Danda
Whether our English friends agree or not, I would say that Gulli-Danda is the king of all games. Even now, when I see boys playing Gulli-Danda, I feel a surge of longing to join them. No need for a field, no court, no net, no designated area. Just a branch cut from a tree, fashioned into a gulli, and two players, and the game begins.
The biggest flaw in Western games is that their equipment is expensive. One cannot even be considered a player until at least a hundred rupees have been spent. Gulli-Danda, however, is crafted from readily available materials; yet we are so enamored with English things that we have lost interest in our own. In schools, every boy is charged three or four rupees annually just for the privilege of playing a sport. No one thinks of promoting Indian games, which can be played without any cost. English games are for those who have money. Why burden the poor boys with this addiction? Granted, there is a risk of getting an eye injury with Gulli, but is there no risk of head injuries, broken ribs, or torn limbs in cricket? If the mark of a gulli remains on our foreheads even today, we also have friends who have replaced the traditional "thapi" (a wooden stick) with a crutch. It's a matter of personal preference. For me, Gulli is superior to all other games, and holds the sweetest place in my childhood memories.
The early morning departure from home, climbing trees to collect branches and make gulli-danda, the excitement, the gatherings of players, the pushing and shoving, the disputes and arguments, the simplicity of a society that knew no distinction between rich and poor, high and low, a society free from boastfulness and display – this is a way of life that is forgotten, when family members are upset, fathers are venting their anger on the plates of roti, mothers' movements are confined to the doorway, while I, lost in the game, oblivious to eating or bathing, focused only on the activity at hand, with its simplicity, yet filled with endless amusement. A small gulli, yet holding the sweetness of countless treats and wonders of the world.
Among my peers was a boy named Gaya. He was two or three years older than me. Thin, with long, slender fingers like a monkey, possessing the same agility, the same restlessness. Whatever the gulli, he would snatch it up as if a lizard snatching insects. We don't know about his parents, where he lived, or what he ate; but he was the champion of our Gulli-Danda club. When he was on the field, victory was practically assured. We all welcomed his arrival with enthusiasm, preparing ourselves for the game.
One day, Gaya and I were playing. I was on the offensive, but something strange was happening; I could play for hours on end; yet being on the defensive was a matter of minutes. I tried every tactic possible, although these were perhaps not the most conventional, but Gaya would not let me off the hook without a wager.
I ran home. No pleas were effective.
Gaya caught up with me, brandishing his stick, "Give me your wager." "You play all day, and I'm supposed to play all day as well?"
"Yes, you have to play all day."
"Won't I be able to eat or drink?"
"No! You can't go anywhere without giving me my wager."
"Am I your slave?"
"Yes, you are my slave."
"I'm going home to see what you do to me!"
"How are you going to go home; what nonsense is this? A wager is a wager."
"Okay, yesterday I gave you a guava. Give it back."
"It's already in my stomach."
"Take it out of your stomach. Why did you eat my guava?"
"You gave me the guava, so I ate it. I didn't go asking for it."
"I won't give you my wager until you give me my guava."
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