MEMORIES FROM THE SOPHOMORE DIARY

We hone team spirit from this game. It mentors our leadership and decision-making skills. It’s a bliss to play this game as it invigorates you neatly. The sport I am trying to highlight here is “pithoo”, an Indian traditional game. Many might have played this game, a few others would have heard it and for some, this still may be a new word. I have spent a great deal of time playing, enjoying and loving this game. 

Pithoo is a conventional Indian game and can be identified by many more terms from different parts of the country. They are: 
Pithoo (Haryana), 
satoliya(Rajasthan), 
Satodiya(Gujarat),
Lingorchya(Maharashtra), 
Dabba kale(Kerala), 
Ezhu kallu(Tamil Nadu) and widely known as Saat Patthar. 

I used to play pithoo during my good old school days and kept missing it after I left school. In my sophomore year, I happened to play this game with my classmates on a short notice, when suddenly our class was cancelled. We immensely enjoyed and had fun playing for 2 hours and still wished not to go back to the class. Even the benevolent azure of the day seems unforgettable. Subsequently, we started playing pithoo frequently. 

This game is really wonderful which produces intense feelings of euphoria and aglows your inner souls. Sadly, pithoo is losing its prominence and descending from our culture. So, lead yourself in a manoeuvre and try out getting mud-smeared playing this game. 

Pithoo

Following is a brief procedure for the newbies to learn how to play this game: 

1. This game is played with two equal opponent teams. 

2. Team A impinges on the stack of 7 stones by throwing the ball and intends to rebuild it while avoiding being hit by any player of the opponent team (by the tennis ball). 

Also each team player gets 3 attempts to hit the stack. 

3. All the players of team B are fielders and have to hit the members of team A, preventing them from building the stack of stones. The players (of team A) who are hit by the ball lose their tries through the corresponding match. 

4. If team A happens to build the stack, then they have a pithoo, else team B gets its turn to break and reconstruct the stone-mound. 

5. Most important is to keep enjoying and having fun all through the game. **And woohoo you’ve done it**.

Written and compiled by Vaishali & Vedika