Monu's World: Pitthoo
The Summer vacations were always a time of too much fun and too little time to enjoy it all. Despite the searing 40 degree temperatures of May and June, the children always managed to enjoy every bit of the vacations, craving for a few days more as July approached signalling the end of the holidays. But till the rains broke out, till the last few remaining days of the summer break got over hurriedly in quick-fix school homework and sunshine or not, the kids never experienced a dull moment. Not even the notorious Delhi loo winds had the strength or the heat to burn away their enthusiasm.
Swinging wildly on the swing that hung from Raka's mango tree (sometimes in two's and three's), eating the just-ripening mangoes, sucking on the sweet sugarcane from Raka's back garden, drinking chilled cold coffee at home and playing till late hours of the evening - that was what the summer vacations meant for the kids. In the evenings the setting sun would bring out lengthening shadows that leaped and creeped about in the nightlights from the vehicles on the main road and from under the tall streetlight near Meethi's house. The passage of time never marked any lag in their playtime, never caused any breaks or unsavory interruptions from the adults - all was fair during the summer break! The grownups were familiar with the unwritten protocol that the summer holidays were meant for unlimited fun and any curbs would not work, scolding or not! Exhausted and drained physically yet brimming with excitement and the strange energy that only children are capable of, the kids would know when it was time for home. Mostly, it would be a call from Raka's mom or sisters, or Meethi's mom or Monu's dad. Yet it would not be persistent, never urgent and would not require repetition. One call signaled the end of their long and happy day, that it was time for dinner and then off to bed. They were never disappointed, seldom were there any disgruntled murmurs. For, tomorrow was another day; tomorrow, the fun would begin all over again!
One of their favorite games was pitthoo. Monu loved it as it was one of the games where all the children, big and small played together and in teams. The teams were divided along age as all the smaller kids made up one team and the older ones made up the other. So, Monu was in the team that had Raka, Meethi, Teepi and Pinchu, while Neeba, Shri, Radha and Tinchu were the other team. In Monu's team, Monu, Raka and Meethi, all were the co-captains functionally, while the other team had none to name as all the four older children considered themselves as equal leaders. However, for the sake of formality, the team members condescended to name Tinchu as the captain, figuratively. Similarly, Monu and Meethi agreed to name Raka as their team's figurative head. So, after the two captains tossed the coin (in the 'haloed' tradition of Cricket) and shook hands, the game was on.
The stones had been carefully selected and neatly stacked one on top of the other in descending order of their sizes. Only the flat-surfaced ones were suitable and the children would scour the neighborhood around diligently trying to pick out the best looking stones pieces. After play the stone pile would be carefully stashed away for the next time they decided to play. The children would take care to hide them away in a corner of Raka's garden, away from the sight of trackers (other kids from the neighborhood) on the lookout for 'ammo' for their contests.
One such game of Pitthoo was just beginning. Meethi had the ball and like a pro bowler was trying to hold it cleverly so as not to give away its position in her fingers, even though it was only a tennis ball. (Here, I think a short digression would be helpful to enlighten those not familiar with the intricacies of cricketing tactics. The way a bowler holds the ball in his fingers, especially the position of the seam of the ball, is a pointer to the kind of ball he'l bowl. Meaning in even more lay terms that the way the seam of the ball is positioned in the bowler's hand gives some indication to the batsman of where and at what speed the ball would fall. Of course, the ball used in cricket is made of cork and unlike the soft tennis ball, is hard and solid with a clearly defined seam line. But for Pitthoo using a cork ball would be unimaginable, even though one would get the satisfaction of breaking the stone pile easily. Plus, all the players would need the hide of a rhino even if such a foolhardy stunt was attempted.)
Now, back to the game.While Meethi was positioning herself a few paces away from the rock pile, Raka had come up (like on the cricket field) to try and get the ball as cleaned up as he could. He rubbed the ball down over on the sides of his thighs, a la Kapil or Akram, and then tossed the better-looking-for-the-rub ball back to Meethi. The rest had positioned themselves in strategic places around the so called playing field. Their roles were specific and standing positions carefully planned. Monu being fast in the field and a good athlete was the main 'dodger' and would try to dodge the ball as the other team tried to hit her and end her teams play. Meethi being the clever one and with a good aim was the 'thrower' and would try to throw the ball so as to dislodge as little of the stacked stones while not giving the ball away to the opposing team member standing opposite her just a little way after the stone stack watching the ball like a hawk. Raka, the cool guy with nimble fingers who never got ruffled under pressure, was the 'stacker' and had to re-stack the dislodged stones as quickly as possible. The other two team members, Teepi and Pinchu, being the youngest, least 'experienced' and rather slow in the field were mostly the supporting cast and had the main job of standing as far away from the opposing team members so as to avoid being even grazed by a misdirected ball thrown at Monu.
As Meethi raised her arm to the back of her head, Tinchu standing opposite her behind the stacked stones, narrowed his eyes. He'd caught sight of her fingers cleverly curled around the ball and his gut told him she'd go for the slow ball aimed at the very tip of the stack and meant to dislodge maybe the topmost three stones at the most. As Meethi's arm came forward Tinchu moved forward just a little, and then 'Wham'! The pile exploded sending the ball flying into Raka's erstwhile vegetable garden now lying fallow, but full of dried yellow weeds and grass near the red brick wall. Tinchu had misjudged, or rather the wily Meethi had deliberately misdirected him, tightening her grip at the last minute and throwing a quicker ball. As the surprised Tinchu shouted out to the by-now-scampering Neeba, Raka moved quickly into position and started on the hard task of stacking up the stones while keeping one eye on the proceedings near the wall. He knew his short-sighted sister would take time to reach the ball, but once she had it, it would be another game altogether. For, Neeba had a mean little mind that exulted in the tiniest form of cruelty and she would try to hit poor Monu with all her might so that wherever it hit, it hurt the most. So he concentrated on doing his job as quickly as possible assisted by Meethi. Monu on the other hand, was watching carefully too. She wanted to run to Raka and Meethi to help them stack the stones, but stood hovering apart ready to run if the ball was found. A couple of tense minuted elapsed wherein the hapless Neeba was now joined by both Radha and Shri, the latter both being cool and collected. Out of the corner of her eyes Monu saw Teepi and Pinchu inching forward, emboldened by the fact that the ball wasn't found and the stack was almost finished. "Peeche jao tum dono!" she shouted out to them gesticulating wildly. And the next instant, the ball whizzed past her, narrowly missing her. Shri had found the ball and had chanced her arm, but luck had been with Monu. Monu sped away and reached for the far side of the brick wall. Simultaneously, both Raka and Meethi had moved away from the stone pile too, only a couple of stones left to stack. Tinchu had caught the ball thrown by Shri and stood holding it ready to hit anyone who came near the stone pile from the opposing team.
Thus stood everyone. Monu near the brick wall, Neeba a few paces in front of her. Tinchu near the stone pile, Radha to his left, (so that all three - Radha, Tinchu and Neeba formed a semi-circle around the stone pile) and Shri with Raka and Meethi on either side of her keeping her eye on Teepi and Pinchu standing further apart on the tarred road that stretched far away into the distance and sloped upwards at the end. Suddenly, Meethi, the reckless made a movement forward. This time it was calculated to make Tinchu throw at her. She gambled on being missed and won. The ball went into Monu's front garden. But unlike Raka's weedy garden, Monu's vegetable patch was quite clear of weeds, Bhola maali having been there only days before. So, it wasn't hard to spot the bright yellow ball lying on the brown ground near the boundary of the field next door to Meethi's house. Shri flew to the ball and turned around to see who to throw it to. Raka and Meethi had moved away from her towards the stone pile and Teepi and Pinchu had retreated further back on the tarred road. Monu stood watching Shri and suddenly saw the ball flying to Neeba who had called out to her sister "Idhar phenk Shri." The next thing Monu knew, the ball was coming towards her and she was ducking low, and the ball missing her head slammed into the brick wall behind. Monu scampered away to her left towards the Peepal tree looming near the end of Raka's field. Neeba had caught the ball as it bounced back from the wall and threw it at Monu. She moved aside and the ball hit the tree and went flying at a ninety degree turn. Tinchu was after it in a flash. As he left, Raka rushed in and lifted one of the two remaining stones. Barely had he placed it when Meethi pulled him back and out of the way of the ball whooshing past his extended arm. The stone he had tried to place fell down shaking the pile and taking a couple of stones more down with it. "O yaar nahi" let out Raka as he saw his effort backfire.
The ball headed for the Henna hedges lining Raka's front garden, but was visible as it lay among the freshly-mown green grass. Radha defended her territory well and was quick to pounce on the ball and release it even more quickly to Neeba who had called out yet again. Doing a fast u-turn, Neeba threw the ball with all her might at Monu standing near the wall. Monu turned sideways to her left and the ball missed her bouncing once and right back out of sheer velocity into the waiting hands of the sneering Neeba. She raised her arm again scowling at Monu as her sadistic brain concentrated on trying to hit Monu with all the force in her body. Monu's body tensed and became like a wound up spring ready to fly when Neeba released the ball. 'Bam', this time the ball hit the wall to her left as Monu turned and moved to her right. Behind Neeba, Monu could make out the bent forms of Raka and Meethi as they struggled with the stone stack. "Wham, bang, bang..." the sounds followed in succession as the ball kept missing the agile and extraordinarily lucky Monu and hitting the red brick wall, the scowl on Neeba's face deepening with each miss. She kept trying to hit Monu and missing, her cruel little mind determinedly egging her on "one more time...".
"Pitthoo!" Raka's ecstatic voice yelled out suddenly. "Ye, ye!" screamed Meethi rushing to hug Raka. "Oh no!" came from the deeply disappointed Tinchu while Radha and Shri looked on resignedly. An excited Monu rushed to hug Raka and Meethi, her eyes victorious and shining with pride at not just the win, but at the remarkable way she had managed to dodge the balls thrown one after the other by Neeba. The younger trio celebrated hugging and slapping each other on the back, quickly joined by their two beaming youngest team members. Neeba, the chief culprit, was sulking as was her custom. Only this time, her humor worsened as an irate Tinchu upbraided her for not heeding her team mates calling out to her to pass the ball and needlessly persisting in going after Monu. " Monu to waise he fast hai" he scolded, "tujhe hamari baat sun ni chahiye thi. Poore time jo tu Monu ko maarne ki koshish kar rahi thi, Raka peeche pitthoo jod raha tha. Ab dekh teri wajah se hum haare hain!"
Thus went on the angry Tinchu while a scowling Neeba tried weakly to defend herself. After the brief celebration by the younger team and the urgent team huddle of the older team to gather a contingency plan, the game resumed. The pitthoo stacks were made and broken, the ball was kept busy and the kids had a rousing game, both sides winning and losing at intervals. The losses were mourned and soon forgotten, the wins were savored and remembered and everyone had a jolly good time running about and getting hit and being missed by the ball that by the end had begun to show the colors of the earth. Even the two youngest kids - Teepi and Pinchu - managed to chip in by helping Raka out and keeping a watch out for the ball as it flew from hand to hand over road and field. At the end of the day, all that remained was a rather dirty-looking ball, a stack of worn out stones and a set of grimy, ravenous and tired-to-the-bone children who had enjoyed themselves immensely even in the midst of little disagreements and quarrels.
The sun had set, finding the ball was next to impossible and the children decided to go home and have a bath and a good meal. After dinner they were too sleepy to even watch the TV which they never missed during holidays and quickly went to bed. The older girls did not have the luxury of going to bed soon and had to help out in the kitchen. However, when they did get to sleep, they slept soundly, not turning or tossing about. All the children had dreams though. They dreamed about the game and the way they had played and the misses and the catches. But most of all they remembered the fun they all had got out of the long Summer's day and they wished it would last. They hoped the excitement would linger to color their dreams and leave behind remnants to last them a lifetime. Gladly enough those childish hopes and remembrances of at least one of them did come true!
Swinging wildly on the swing that hung from Raka's mango tree (sometimes in two's and three's), eating the just-ripening mangoes, sucking on the sweet sugarcane from Raka's back garden, drinking chilled cold coffee at home and playing till late hours of the evening - that was what the summer vacations meant for the kids. In the evenings the setting sun would bring out lengthening shadows that leaped and creeped about in the nightlights from the vehicles on the main road and from under the tall streetlight near Meethi's house. The passage of time never marked any lag in their playtime, never caused any breaks or unsavory interruptions from the adults - all was fair during the summer break! The grownups were familiar with the unwritten protocol that the summer holidays were meant for unlimited fun and any curbs would not work, scolding or not! Exhausted and drained physically yet brimming with excitement and the strange energy that only children are capable of, the kids would know when it was time for home. Mostly, it would be a call from Raka's mom or sisters, or Meethi's mom or Monu's dad. Yet it would not be persistent, never urgent and would not require repetition. One call signaled the end of their long and happy day, that it was time for dinner and then off to bed. They were never disappointed, seldom were there any disgruntled murmurs. For, tomorrow was another day; tomorrow, the fun would begin all over again!
One of their favorite games was pitthoo. Monu loved it as it was one of the games where all the children, big and small played together and in teams. The teams were divided along age as all the smaller kids made up one team and the older ones made up the other. So, Monu was in the team that had Raka, Meethi, Teepi and Pinchu, while Neeba, Shri, Radha and Tinchu were the other team. In Monu's team, Monu, Raka and Meethi, all were the co-captains functionally, while the other team had none to name as all the four older children considered themselves as equal leaders. However, for the sake of formality, the team members condescended to name Tinchu as the captain, figuratively. Similarly, Monu and Meethi agreed to name Raka as their team's figurative head. So, after the two captains tossed the coin (in the 'haloed' tradition of Cricket) and shook hands, the game was on.
The stones had been carefully selected and neatly stacked one on top of the other in descending order of their sizes. Only the flat-surfaced ones were suitable and the children would scour the neighborhood around diligently trying to pick out the best looking stones pieces. After play the stone pile would be carefully stashed away for the next time they decided to play. The children would take care to hide them away in a corner of Raka's garden, away from the sight of trackers (other kids from the neighborhood) on the lookout for 'ammo' for their contests.
One such game of Pitthoo was just beginning. Meethi had the ball and like a pro bowler was trying to hold it cleverly so as not to give away its position in her fingers, even though it was only a tennis ball. (Here, I think a short digression would be helpful to enlighten those not familiar with the intricacies of cricketing tactics. The way a bowler holds the ball in his fingers, especially the position of the seam of the ball, is a pointer to the kind of ball he'l bowl. Meaning in even more lay terms that the way the seam of the ball is positioned in the bowler's hand gives some indication to the batsman of where and at what speed the ball would fall. Of course, the ball used in cricket is made of cork and unlike the soft tennis ball, is hard and solid with a clearly defined seam line. But for Pitthoo using a cork ball would be unimaginable, even though one would get the satisfaction of breaking the stone pile easily. Plus, all the players would need the hide of a rhino even if such a foolhardy stunt was attempted.)
Now, back to the game.While Meethi was positioning herself a few paces away from the rock pile, Raka had come up (like on the cricket field) to try and get the ball as cleaned up as he could. He rubbed the ball down over on the sides of his thighs, a la Kapil or Akram, and then tossed the better-looking-for-the-rub ball back to Meethi. The rest had positioned themselves in strategic places around the so called playing field. Their roles were specific and standing positions carefully planned. Monu being fast in the field and a good athlete was the main 'dodger' and would try to dodge the ball as the other team tried to hit her and end her teams play. Meethi being the clever one and with a good aim was the 'thrower' and would try to throw the ball so as to dislodge as little of the stacked stones while not giving the ball away to the opposing team member standing opposite her just a little way after the stone stack watching the ball like a hawk. Raka, the cool guy with nimble fingers who never got ruffled under pressure, was the 'stacker' and had to re-stack the dislodged stones as quickly as possible. The other two team members, Teepi and Pinchu, being the youngest, least 'experienced' and rather slow in the field were mostly the supporting cast and had the main job of standing as far away from the opposing team members so as to avoid being even grazed by a misdirected ball thrown at Monu.
As Meethi raised her arm to the back of her head, Tinchu standing opposite her behind the stacked stones, narrowed his eyes. He'd caught sight of her fingers cleverly curled around the ball and his gut told him she'd go for the slow ball aimed at the very tip of the stack and meant to dislodge maybe the topmost three stones at the most. As Meethi's arm came forward Tinchu moved forward just a little, and then 'Wham'! The pile exploded sending the ball flying into Raka's erstwhile vegetable garden now lying fallow, but full of dried yellow weeds and grass near the red brick wall. Tinchu had misjudged, or rather the wily Meethi had deliberately misdirected him, tightening her grip at the last minute and throwing a quicker ball. As the surprised Tinchu shouted out to the by-now-scampering Neeba, Raka moved quickly into position and started on the hard task of stacking up the stones while keeping one eye on the proceedings near the wall. He knew his short-sighted sister would take time to reach the ball, but once she had it, it would be another game altogether. For, Neeba had a mean little mind that exulted in the tiniest form of cruelty and she would try to hit poor Monu with all her might so that wherever it hit, it hurt the most. So he concentrated on doing his job as quickly as possible assisted by Meethi. Monu on the other hand, was watching carefully too. She wanted to run to Raka and Meethi to help them stack the stones, but stood hovering apart ready to run if the ball was found. A couple of tense minuted elapsed wherein the hapless Neeba was now joined by both Radha and Shri, the latter both being cool and collected. Out of the corner of her eyes Monu saw Teepi and Pinchu inching forward, emboldened by the fact that the ball wasn't found and the stack was almost finished. "Peeche jao tum dono!" she shouted out to them gesticulating wildly. And the next instant, the ball whizzed past her, narrowly missing her. Shri had found the ball and had chanced her arm, but luck had been with Monu. Monu sped away and reached for the far side of the brick wall. Simultaneously, both Raka and Meethi had moved away from the stone pile too, only a couple of stones left to stack. Tinchu had caught the ball thrown by Shri and stood holding it ready to hit anyone who came near the stone pile from the opposing team.
Thus stood everyone. Monu near the brick wall, Neeba a few paces in front of her. Tinchu near the stone pile, Radha to his left, (so that all three - Radha, Tinchu and Neeba formed a semi-circle around the stone pile) and Shri with Raka and Meethi on either side of her keeping her eye on Teepi and Pinchu standing further apart on the tarred road that stretched far away into the distance and sloped upwards at the end. Suddenly, Meethi, the reckless made a movement forward. This time it was calculated to make Tinchu throw at her. She gambled on being missed and won. The ball went into Monu's front garden. But unlike Raka's weedy garden, Monu's vegetable patch was quite clear of weeds, Bhola maali having been there only days before. So, it wasn't hard to spot the bright yellow ball lying on the brown ground near the boundary of the field next door to Meethi's house. Shri flew to the ball and turned around to see who to throw it to. Raka and Meethi had moved away from her towards the stone pile and Teepi and Pinchu had retreated further back on the tarred road. Monu stood watching Shri and suddenly saw the ball flying to Neeba who had called out to her sister "Idhar phenk Shri." The next thing Monu knew, the ball was coming towards her and she was ducking low, and the ball missing her head slammed into the brick wall behind. Monu scampered away to her left towards the Peepal tree looming near the end of Raka's field. Neeba had caught the ball as it bounced back from the wall and threw it at Monu. She moved aside and the ball hit the tree and went flying at a ninety degree turn. Tinchu was after it in a flash. As he left, Raka rushed in and lifted one of the two remaining stones. Barely had he placed it when Meethi pulled him back and out of the way of the ball whooshing past his extended arm. The stone he had tried to place fell down shaking the pile and taking a couple of stones more down with it. "O yaar nahi" let out Raka as he saw his effort backfire.
The ball headed for the Henna hedges lining Raka's front garden, but was visible as it lay among the freshly-mown green grass. Radha defended her territory well and was quick to pounce on the ball and release it even more quickly to Neeba who had called out yet again. Doing a fast u-turn, Neeba threw the ball with all her might at Monu standing near the wall. Monu turned sideways to her left and the ball missed her bouncing once and right back out of sheer velocity into the waiting hands of the sneering Neeba. She raised her arm again scowling at Monu as her sadistic brain concentrated on trying to hit Monu with all the force in her body. Monu's body tensed and became like a wound up spring ready to fly when Neeba released the ball. 'Bam', this time the ball hit the wall to her left as Monu turned and moved to her right. Behind Neeba, Monu could make out the bent forms of Raka and Meethi as they struggled with the stone stack. "Wham, bang, bang..." the sounds followed in succession as the ball kept missing the agile and extraordinarily lucky Monu and hitting the red brick wall, the scowl on Neeba's face deepening with each miss. She kept trying to hit Monu and missing, her cruel little mind determinedly egging her on "one more time...".
"Pitthoo!" Raka's ecstatic voice yelled out suddenly. "Ye, ye!" screamed Meethi rushing to hug Raka. "Oh no!" came from the deeply disappointed Tinchu while Radha and Shri looked on resignedly. An excited Monu rushed to hug Raka and Meethi, her eyes victorious and shining with pride at not just the win, but at the remarkable way she had managed to dodge the balls thrown one after the other by Neeba. The younger trio celebrated hugging and slapping each other on the back, quickly joined by their two beaming youngest team members. Neeba, the chief culprit, was sulking as was her custom. Only this time, her humor worsened as an irate Tinchu upbraided her for not heeding her team mates calling out to her to pass the ball and needlessly persisting in going after Monu. " Monu to waise he fast hai" he scolded, "tujhe hamari baat sun ni chahiye thi. Poore time jo tu Monu ko maarne ki koshish kar rahi thi, Raka peeche pitthoo jod raha tha. Ab dekh teri wajah se hum haare hain!"
Thus went on the angry Tinchu while a scowling Neeba tried weakly to defend herself. After the brief celebration by the younger team and the urgent team huddle of the older team to gather a contingency plan, the game resumed. The pitthoo stacks were made and broken, the ball was kept busy and the kids had a rousing game, both sides winning and losing at intervals. The losses were mourned and soon forgotten, the wins were savored and remembered and everyone had a jolly good time running about and getting hit and being missed by the ball that by the end had begun to show the colors of the earth. Even the two youngest kids - Teepi and Pinchu - managed to chip in by helping Raka out and keeping a watch out for the ball as it flew from hand to hand over road and field. At the end of the day, all that remained was a rather dirty-looking ball, a stack of worn out stones and a set of grimy, ravenous and tired-to-the-bone children who had enjoyed themselves immensely even in the midst of little disagreements and quarrels.
The sun had set, finding the ball was next to impossible and the children decided to go home and have a bath and a good meal. After dinner they were too sleepy to even watch the TV which they never missed during holidays and quickly went to bed. The older girls did not have the luxury of going to bed soon and had to help out in the kitchen. However, when they did get to sleep, they slept soundly, not turning or tossing about. All the children had dreams though. They dreamed about the game and the way they had played and the misses and the catches. But most of all they remembered the fun they all had got out of the long Summer's day and they wished it would last. They hoped the excitement would linger to color their dreams and leave behind remnants to last them a lifetime. Gladly enough those childish hopes and remembrances of at least one of them did come true!
This reminds me of my summer vacations when i was in school. Nicely written :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I can understand. :-) Glad you liked it. Thanks!
ReplyDelete