The Lagori Champions
🔊 Click on any word to hear its pronunciation!
Part I
Photo 1
Prakash: Ravi! How are you?
Ravi: I am fine, Prakash! Let's go and play outside; it's a sunny day.
Prakash: Yes, let's go.
(Ravi and Prakash went to the children's park near their house. A few children were playing there. They waved at Ravi. Ravi waved back and introduced Prakash as his cousin to all his friends. After playing for a while, they started talking.)
Guneet: Tomorrow is the Lagori match. We should include Prakash in our team; he's a good runner.
Deepa: Yes, he is quick.
Photo 2
Prakash: Will somebody please tell me what this Lagori match is about?
(Everybody looked at Prakash with great surprise.)
Guneet: Don't you know Lagori game?
Prakash: No, I don't.
Nidhi: Wait, I will tell you. Lagori is actually a game of seven stones.
Prakash: Seven stones game? How is it played?
(Imran joins them.)
Nidhi: Look! Imran is here. He is also a champion of this game. He will explain.
Imran: In Lagori, the seven flat stones are stacked one above the other. After that, one team knocks down the stones with a ball, and the other team tries to rebuild the stack while avoiding the ball thrown by the members of the first team or the opponent team.
Prakash: Oh! Okay, you mean Satoliya.
Deepa: What is Satoliya now?
Prakash: In Rajasthan, we call this game Satoliya.
Photo 3
Guneet: Wow! We learned another name of our favourite game. So, in our Sundarpur village, we call it Lagori, and in Rajasthan, it is called as Satoliya.
Imran: Now we know that this game is played in Rajasthan too!
Guneet: Do you know, Prakash, our Lagori team is called by the name of Sundarpur Tigers and our friend Deepa is our captain.
Ravi: No doubt! She runs fast!
Nidhi: Ravi, tell him about our opponent team.
Ravi: Yes, Prakash, we are playing this match with the 'Green Warriors' team from the nearby village.
Deepa: We have to tell Prakash about the game rules also.
Prakash: Yes, please do tell me.
Imran: The field is marked with a boundary. The players are not supposed to go beyond the boundary. Seven flat stones are stacked one over the other, in the centre of the field.
Prakash: Yes, these are the same rules we have while playing Satoliya.
Ravi: It seems we are all ready for the match.
Part II
Photo 4
(The next day, all children gathered for the match. The referee blew the whistle and Deepa took the first shot. She threw the ball straight at the stack, and the stones scattered. Everyone cheered. The Sundarpur Tigers began to rebuild the stack of stones. The Green Warriors took the ball and aimed to hit the Sundarpur Tigers. Ravi stacked two stones and ducked when the ball was about to hit him. Deepa added a stone to the pile while a Green Warrior threw the ball at Guneet and Deepa.)
Imran: Deepa, watch out! Here comes the ball.
Deepa: Thanks Imran! I dodged the ball just in time.
Photo 5
(Nidhi came running. She placed the fourth and fifth stones and ran away from the ball. Ravi came running with sweat dripping down his face. He put the sixth stone in place. Only one stone was left to be placed. The Green Warriors tried one last time to hit Ravi with the ball. Before that, Prakash came and set the seventh stone on top. The final whistle blew.)
Referee: The Sundarpur Tigers have won!
(The match was over. The players from both teams shook hands and appreciated each other for a good game. The villagers clapped and cheered the teams. The Referee lifted the hands of both the captains and everyone celebrated with laughter and joy. The Lagori match had brought the villagers together, reminding everyone of the simple joys of teamwork.)
Deepa: That was so much fun! Even better than our video games!
Ravi: Indeed! We should play our traditional games more.
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