Blog 5 of 14
The game of Gilli Danda is one of the most interesting of the traditional games of India. Played with one short peg and a long stick, the purpose of the game is to hit the edge of the peg on its pointed end, forcing it to jump up in the air and then hitting it again when airborne. This is an art and skill that is slowly dying out with the popularity of the game.
Sadly, in early times, as the gilli was hand whittled down to a fine point to facilitate hitting it with greater ease, numerous injuries occurred. This made the game fallout of favor. What is needed is a properly designed gilli, which will not injure the eye, so that when played under controlled circumstances in open spaces, the game can still be played safely.
When we talk of traditional games of India during the 44th Chess Olympiad, it is interesting to understand why Gilli Danda deserves to feature here. Other than being a traditional game, what makes it important is the thought and strategy that goes into it, in addition to the skill required to hit the gilli over long distances.
The primary version of the game is to hit the gilli as far as possible while at the same time predicting how far you can hit it. This prediction is made based on the players inherent ability as well as other environmental conditions like wind, terrain, etc. It’s important that we neither overachieve nor underachieve but come as close to the goal as possible.
This ability to predict what one can do, do understand one’s strengths and weaknesses as well as analyze the environment in which you need to perform is more commonly called a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis in corporate terminology.
Yet with a simple game, we learn to analyze ourselves and set goals for our performance. The strategy of setting goals – an important lesson from the game of Gilli Danda and a critical lesson for us in life.
Ripples Of Life and Time 