Welcome Rohri City! Sports & Games In Rohri Page 2

[1][2][3]

· Tug of War‘

Everything is fair in love and war’ is an old dictum. There are twenty-two players in the game, in two teams. The rope is twelve inches thick, and at the centre of the rope there is a red cloth which is considered the boundary line. All sports have the same objectives—recreation and harmonious development of the individual. Different sports were introduced at different times, and all have their

· Chaihar

A board game. The board is divided into twenty-one squares and each player has four men (saryuan or gitiyun) and the same number of cowrie shells. The latter are used like dice at backgammon to decide the number of squares to be moved—the cowries are thrown, and the numbers that land slit-side uppermost determine the number of moves.The game may be played by either two or four people; the winner is the first to reach the centre square. Whenever a piece is in a crossed ghar (square), it cannot be taken by the opponent.

· Dhara or Dice

These are four-sided pieces of ivory, about two inches long and one-third of an inch in diameter. These sides are marked with an ace (pan), a deuce (duo), a cinque (panjo), and a sice (chakko). A set of three dice is generally used, and when not combined with any other game, playing with these is called jua. No skill is required. When the bets are arranged, both parties throw the dice and the highest number wins. Hindus are fond of this kind of play, but good Muslims avoid it as in their religion, it is considered the worst species of gambling.

· Kodi Kodi

This game is played in villages. Two posts (known as palas) are made with pieces of red cloth in the middle of the playing field at a distance of 25-30 yards on each side of the palas. A player of one team attacks players of the other team by passing through the palas. During the attack, he utters the word Kodi-Kodi continuously while holding his breath. The condition is that the attacker has to touch any one of the players of the opposing team and come back during his one prolonged breath. Thus he scores one point for his team. If he is caught or takes a breath, the other team scores a point. The team which scores the higher number of points is the winner.

· Khenhooro

A kind of handball. The kheno (ball) is made of cotton twisted round a betel nut and covered with leather; there are seven players on each side. The game starts with a toss. At a distance of fifty yards, the place is marked which is considered the winning point. Even the ladies do not disdain to display their grace and agility when using the kheno, hence it has merited frequent mention in the love poetry of the country.