Kancha: The golden era of childhood (Games And Sports Originated In India)

Remember how you used to carry marbles (kancha) in your pocket as a young boy as if the pockets were designed to hold those beautiful marbles? or How you used to keep adding those little glass spheres, some clear, others with a different color in them to your proud collections to make others jealous. How often have you held those red and blue marbles up to the lights to see how the world changes? Marbles were the emotion of every child in the village.

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Games and sports have always played an important role in India's rich culture and history. Unfortunately, today's children are so engrossed in video games that traditional games such as Pallanguzi, Lippa, Kabaddi, and Gilli-danda are about to get vanished. Those were the golden days when children couldn't wait to get outside and play with the colorful Kancha or marble.

Marbles are used in a variety of games with different rules. In one of the most popular marble games, a stick or stone is used to draw a circle on the ground about 2-3 feet in diameter. Each player contributes two marbles at the start of the game. The marbles are all arranged in a circle in the center. Then a line is drawn almost three feet away from the hole to decide who will go first. Then one by one the players throw their marbles into the holes standing behind the second line. The person whose marble is closest to the hole is the first to play, followed by the person whose marble is the second closest, and so on.

To begin the game, the player shoots the marbles. To shoot, the player holds the marble tautly in the left forefinger, stretches the finger back like a bowstring with the right forefinger, and finally releases the finger, causing the marbles to fly forward and aim the goal, keeping the left thumb firmly planted on the ground all times. Each player takes turns aiming the marbles out of the circle. They are the owners of the marbles that were thrown out of the circle. Finally, the game ends when there are no more marbles in the circle, and the player with the most marbles wins.

The other is very simple and quite similar to a carrom board game. Kids with kancha of different colors will try to hit each other's kancha. The person who hits others' kancha with his own will receive kancha in return. The game can be played with any number of players. The kanche of both players will be placed in the center, similar to a carrom board game. Then, from a safe distance, each player will attempt to hit the other player's kanche. If a player manages to hit the kanche of another player, he gains control of them. On the other hand, the kanche is held on the index finger and pushed towards the other kanche.

Marble is thought to have evolved from cave people playing with small pebbles or natural clay balls. People have been playing marbles and games similar to marbles for thousands of years.

Playing marbles and other forms of amusement, like so many aspects of childhood, are rapidly becoming extinct. The desire for old-fashioned, traditional games is not merely nostalgic or foolishly sentimental. Some groups have expressed concern and devised elaborate plans to resurrect the game. Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, and Alappuzha are some of the major locations where serious Goti players can be found.

This marble game helps players develop mathematical and motor skills while also improving concentration, hand-eye coordination, and aiming/targeting abilities. It also allows for socialization and enjoyment, as well as the development of healthy competition.

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