What are these girls doing? They are
shouting ‘out’,‘out’,‘out’, it is clear that they are playing a game. What do
you call this game?
Chedduguddu, Hu-tu-tu, Choo Kit Kit,
Ha-du-du or Kabaddi or something else? When six girls surrounded Shyamala and
caught her, everyone thought that she was ‘out’.
Somebody caught her legs, and somebody
her arms, while one girl caught her by the waist. But Shyamala was not the one
to give up. She dragged herself and managed to touch the line in the centre.
When Shyamala touched the line, all the
girls of the opposite team were holding her. So all of them got ‘out’. But Rosy
argued that Shyamala had taken a breath in between, so the team was not ‘out’.
Shyamala insisted that this was not
true. She said that if she had taken a breath, why did the girls keep holding
her? There was a big argument. Finally Shyamala won.
Kabaddi is probably the only game which
requires ground and a whistle only. Kabaddi originated from India and is
the one of the most popular games of Asia.
Kabaddi came on international Map from
SAF Games Dhaka in 1985.
Kabaddi saw its major breakout in 1990
when it was included in the Asian.
Games during 11th Asian Games at
Beijing-China in 1990, since then Kabaddi is a regular discipline in Asian
Games.
Kabaddi was included in the Asian Indoor Games during
2nd Asian Indoor Games at Macau-SAR China in 1997.
Kabaddi achieved one more success when
it was included in Asian Games during 1st Asian Beach Games at
Bali-Indonesia in 1998 and that too for Men & Women kabaddi competitions.
The kabaddi game is played over 40
minutes with a 5-minute break between halves. There are 7 players on each side
and the team that ousts all the players on the opponent's side scores four
extra points.
In Gaminee style, seven players play on
either side and a player put out has to remain out until all his team members
are out.
The team that wins the toss shall have
the choice of the court or the raid. In the second half, the court shall be
changed and the team which had not opted for raid shall send their raider first.
A player shall be out if any part of his
body touches the ground outside the boundary. The portion of contact must be
inside the boundary. If an anti who has gone out of bounds holds a raider, the
raider shall be declared safe and a point shall be declared against the anti.
A
raider shall continue to chant “KABADDI” as the approved cant. If he / SHE is not keeping the approved cant or he looses
the cant in the opponent court or takes more than 30 seconds duration. Under such circumstances, he shall not be
pursued.
A raider must start his cant before he
touches the opponent’s court. If he starts the cant late, he shall be ordered
back by the Umpire or Referee and the opponent’s will be given one Technical
Point and a chance to raid.
Not
more than one raider shall enter the opponent’s court at a time. After a raider
has reached his court or is put out in the opponent’s court, the opponents
shall send their raider within 5 Seconds.
Thus alternately each side shall send
their raider until the end of the game. Incase the raider fails to start his
raid within 5 seconds the team looses its chance to raid and the opponent team
gets a Technical point.
So, this is what a game of Kabaddi is
like. Pushing and pulling, screaming and shouting, dragging and falling on the
ground. It is a rough game, yet it has many rules.
It is lots of fun, and lots of exercise.
Holding your breath while running and continuously saying Kabaddi-Kabaddi and
also trying to touch the players of the opposite team.
So many things to do in Kabaddi. You can
do this as long as you can
hold your breath. You need to use both
your body and mind in this game.
You have to use your strength to pull or
stop the players. At the same time, you have to think about how to enter the
other side. You have to decide whom to touch quickly and come back. If you get
caught, then how do you reach the line in the centre.
Next time when you play Kabaddi, focus
your attention on your legs, arms and eyes. You will notice that good
coordination is required between eyes, legs and arms.
A Story of Three Sisters
Look at this photograph. Don’t they look
like simple Grandmothers? But they are different.
The picture is of the three sisters –
Jwala, Leela and Heera. They live in Mumbai. All three of them played Kabaddi,
and taught the game to others.
Jwala tells, “When we were young, girls
were not allowed to play this game.
People thought that if girls played such
rough games, nobody would marry
them.” They also said that the girls had
to wear boys’clothes to pla Kabaddi. That is why they stopped girls from
playing.
The sisters were young when their father
died. Their mother and mamas (maternal uncles) brought them up. Both uncles
used to play Kabaddi and Kho-Kho.
They encouraged the three girls to play
Kabaddi. Jwala and Leela talk about their experiences. “Almost fifty years ago
when we started to play Kabaddi, girls never got a chance to play this game.
Parents did not let them play the game.
But we always felt that we should play
and my uncles and mother supported us. We three learnt the game and some other
girls also joined us. We formed a Kabaddi Club, which is active even today.”
LET US SEE ANOTHER STORY
Karnam Malleshwari Have you seen or read
about her in the newspapers? Karnam Malleshwari is a weight lifter. She lives
in Andhra Pradesh. Her father is a police constable. Malleshwari started
lifting weights when she was 12 years old. Now she can lift a weight of 130
kilograms. Karnam has won 29 medals in international events. Her four sisters
also practise weight lifting.
Remembering Those Days!
Leela and Heera still get very excited
when they talk about their matches. They tell how they won some matches which
they were about to lose. This was possible
because of their strong will.
During those matches, some very interesting
things happened. Once they had to go to a different town for a big match. 6Leela
tells, “The match had to start at 6.30 in the evening. We went to see a movie
from 3 to 6 o’clock. We thought we would be back in time for the match.
As soon as the movie started, we noticed
some noise and disturbance. It was created by our mama, who was looking for us
in the hall with a torch. When he found us, he gave a big scolding right there
in the cinema hall.”
The sisters had to face many
difficulties because of Kabaddi but that did not reduce their fun. Heera, the
youngest sister, became a Kabaddi coach. She wishes that children like you should
enjoy and play many games, especially Kabaddi.
Imagine that there are 15 children to
play Kho-Kho. They must form two teams with equal numbers (7 each). Then one player
will be left. What will you do if this happens? Have you ever become the ‘extra
person’ in the middle? Write about this.
Every game has some rules. The game is
played according to those rules. Let us see what happens if the rules are
changed.
For example – In cricket, a batsman gets
‘out’, if the bails fall off the stumps. Imagine if there is a rule that the
entire team will be ‘out’, if all the three stumps fall. Would it be fun! Try
and play the game with this rule. Similarly, make some rules for other games
and play.
