A number of traditional games that people don’t play could witness a revival if a recent experiment in South Auckland proves successful.
Residents of Papatoetoe and other areas of Auckland, mostly women, re-lived the past at a fun-filled event organised by the Punjabi Cultural Association, with the support of the Otara Papatoetoe Local Board.
‘Kho-Kho’ and ‘Stapu’ (the Indian version of Hopscotch) were among the games played at the gathering, appropriate to mark the 150th anniversary of Papatoetoe, one of the oldest towns of the country’s largest city.
Papatoetoe Historical Society Life Member and Volunteer Jenny Clark, Manukau Indian Association Immediate Past President Ranjna Patel, Pukekohe Indian Association Committee Member Mona Bhana and Bhartiya Samaj Secretary Roopa Suchdev were among the Guests of Honour at the event.
It was put together by Association Secretary Gurpreet Kaur, volunteers Charanjeet Kaur, Iqbal Kaur Ahulwalia, Lata Kesh, Sonia Bedi, Gurinder Toor, Harpreet Kharbanda, Resham Kaur, Anita Badwal and Auckland Council Advisor Nimi Bedi.
Kho-Kho is an Indian and Pakistani sport played by teams of twelve players who try to avoid being touched by members of the opposing team, with only nine players entering the field initially. It is the most popular traditional tag game after Kabaddi.
In India, Hopscotch is also called ‘Kith-Kith,’ ‘Stapu’ and ‘Ekhat-Dukhat,’ popular in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. These games have similar principles in that players must hop on one foot and must throw the marker in the right square. This mostly is a girls’ game, although boys also evince interest.
