Simple joys & toys of childhood

THE games we played in our childhood are unknown to kids today. Our first toys were folded-paper aeroplanes. We propelled them into space with our hands. The ‘aircraft’ had no fuel, but our skills determined how far it flew.

With the right design and a little muscle power, paper planes can glide like a bird. As youngsters, we competed to see whose plane flew the farthest. Cheers would erupt as the craft soared and landed smoothly on its belly, but there was sheer disappointment when it didn’t. Interestingly, the iconic Wright brothers also used paper to build models of their first aeroplanes.

We also made boats with scraps of paper. The monsoon was the best time to make them sail in the ditches and streams overflowing with water. We enjoyed watching the boats wade through the swirling waters cluttered with debris. We followed their course with excitement and raced ahead to clear any obstacle in their path. Unfortunately, at the voyage’s end, the boats filled with water and grime would disappear to the bottom of the stream.

It was no less thrilling to play the role of a ‘kite runner’ — chasing kites felled in aerial duels or sprinting to pick up colourful pamphlets dropped from gliders advertising the arrival of a new circus in town. Tragically, a teenaged boy was mowed down by a train while chasing a kite. Losing their only son sent the parents into depression.

Discarded cycle tyres became playthings as we navigated them on the streets with a stick or used them to play hula-hoop. We also played games with discarded cigarette packs, fruit seeds and matchbox labels. Chatting on the matchbox telephone, flattening coins on railway tracks, bringing down fruits with a catapult, riding piggyback, playing cricket with a clipboard and paper ball, building sandcastles and going trigger-happy with our toy guns were life’s little pleasures that provided hours of undiluted joy. The evenings during vacations came alive with board games.

On weekends, we rented bicycles and explored the wilderness beyond the town. With a new game to play every day, there was never a dull moment. We lived in a magical world!

In the pre-television era, girls dabbled in hopscotch. Throwing or catching discs, rings and balls were other popular games. They got their creative juices flowing by making dolls out of coconut leaves, hay and straws. The male figure with the body draped in white cloth and head adorned with a turban reminded me of voodoo dolls, while the female ones had colourful fabric wrapped around them.

Girls would also spread their miniature toy stoves, pots and pans on the floor and pretend to rustle up a treat. They also had indigenously made wooden dolls and spent hours decking or pretending to feed them. Today’s mass-produced electronic or mechanical playthings are poor cousins to the simple toys of yesteryear.

Musings