Some say chess or ‘shatranj‘ came from improvisation of ‘chaturanga‘ played in Mahabharata period; Polo was invented by Indian shatraps; Playing cards were popular in various courts as ‘Kridapatram‘ or ‘Ganjifa‘; Kalaripayattu gave origin to Judo and Martial arts by Buddhists; Teer-Dhanush promoted to archery; Kabaddi in Asian games. And ofcourse, land of snake-charmers must have been the idea behind ‘snake and ladders’. But, those games gained enough popularity to spread their wings across the world from Olympics to Vegas casinos.
But, some games couldn’t make it.
1. Antyakshari: College kids singing with deafening voices, trying to culminate songs with ‘tha’ (ठ), ‘dha’ (ढ). And the veterans coming up with ‘Thandey Thandey Paani se‘. A popular among college trips, and in boredom of trains, Antyakshari remains the most glamorised indigenous game featured even in movies and TV shows.
2. Goli a.k.a. Kanchey: One game, which led to frequent thrashing in childhood was this marble ball game. An intoxicating addiction. The enticing colourful shiny balls, and the ease of hitting with bow-stringed finger. The game is a miniature version of golf where we try to put the round balls into the hole, breeding many Tiger Woods of Kanchey.
3. Lattu a.k.a. Bambaram or spinning top: Spinning top is the first childhood lesson in practical physics. The ‘torque’ and centrifugal force, the spinning velocity. A game of perfection, Lattu needed hours of practicing to develop that reflex.
4. Aada-paada: Razma-mooli/Dosa-Idli eating Indians have always been obsessed with farts and purgatory desire. No wonder iconic Amitabh Bachhan was chosen for Piku (the movie). A detective shot at who farted and a wonderful limerick!
Aada paada kaun paada
Mamaji ka ghoda paada
Aam paam dhuss
Chane kee daal phuss.
One of the nasty embarassing game to nab the ‘wasn’t me’ guy.
5. Pitto a.k.a. Lagoria/ Satolia: Game may sound benign but it was the only violent skin-ripping masculine game played ofcourse by the notorious boys. A soft ball (technically) would be thrown at a pile of flat stones. While the opposite team tries to stack it back, the attackers would hit hard with ball at them. A cowboy game of ‘who shoots first’ played in gullies of India.
6. Raja-mantri-chor-sipahi: A chit game where ‘mantri’ have to choose the thief between ‘sipahi‘ and ‘chor‘ on raja’s instruction. I am sure similar chit games must be existing elsewhere but police and thief in similar garb may be unique to India.
* Games like chhupam-chhupai (Hide and seek), patang (kite-flying), chausar (roulette or board game version), gudda-gudiya kee shaadi (barbie indian version), gulli-danda (cricket) are excluded as they didn’t seem purely indigenous to author.
vamagandhi 
Puraani yaadein taaza ho gayi. Thank you.
LOL 😀
Thande thande might be the most popular antakshari song in Hindi speaking states for the reasons you mention. I have played most of these in childhood.
Thanks for sharing this.
Love and light ❤
Anand 🙂
Loll…..love the games though 😛
lolzzz…..loved it 😀
A very refreshing post 🙂 Antyakshari in its more developed form turned into dumb charades 😛 I remember the beating my brother got for playing kanche 😛
Very nice article!! It made me remember my childhood days.
good old days when we played the beautiful games which we are now losing ..
I remember raja mantri chor sipahi and antakshri!!! Loved them!!! Thank you for this post ❤❤❤ So many beautiful memories of childhood ❤❤❤😊😊😊
Nostalgic…😊
Turk persian also claim that
Polo origin in thier respective country
It was called ‘Choghaan’
And ‘Shatrunj’ was from Arabia
Shayh and maat which litreally means
Shaah is the King and maat is died
The kind died means check n mate.
Good one 🙂
In antakshari, I had 1 more brahamasthara “thhade rahiyo”:)
For me, my all time fav game was kit kit (hopscotch )….
There is much for me to see here.
So Near & Dear.
And you have grabbed my Idea.
I am not jealous but very Happy.
You will know when I come here the next time.
Its 1.30 am here Yaar!
Wont you allow me to sleep.
Fond Regards,
Shiva
Made me remember the childhood days…thanks
Too good post, remembering me my excellence in few games you mentioned.