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Mumbai: Matunga sports event lets locals shun contemporary gadgets and turn back time

The event is organised to revive certain neglected games like kho-kho.

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In this fast-paced, high-tech generation, gadget-addiction has almost become the norm of the day. People seldom get the time to interact with each other personally, usually playing games like Candy Crush instead. But — in an attempt to revive neglected games such as kho-kho, langdi and lagori — certain Matunga residents have formed a group called One Matunga to bring these games back into popular consciousness.

The group organised the second edition of its street festival on Sunday and — having blocked one side of Dr BA Road from Maheshwari Udhyan (Kings Circle, Matunga) towards the Ruia College signal — ensured that from 7am to noon, Matunga residents left their contemporary gadgets behind in the confines of their home.

The 600m stretch that One Matunga had earmarked for the event was divided into different zones, for sports such as basketball, football, volleyball and cricket, apart from for performances, art and craft, indoor and board games, traditional Indian games, health and fitness, and skating and cycling.

Thus, people who weren't up for physical activities could indulge in indoor and board games, such as Monopoly, Scrabble, Ludo, carom and chess. The zone for Indian traditional games had kho-kho, langdi, lagori and hop-scotch, among other such games that can transport a person to his or her childhood.

What's more, this exceptional event was held completely free of cost for the residents. "There was a little bit of crowd-funding and we also had sponsors, but the event was entirely free of cost for the residents," said Chintu Sarawal, chief co-ordinator, One Matunga

There were even some women who shook a leg to Bollywood numbers with trainers from Purple Grape dance academy, apart from there being a musical show with live performances. Many professionals and teachers also conducted art-and-craft classes for children and their parents as well, with drawing and craft competitions also being held which, despite involving modest prizes, did not suffer from want of enthusiasm.

Aside from all the fun and games, there was a special medical zone where different medical check-ups were conducted. A yoga and meditation zone, along with a laughter club, helped people kill the stress of daily life, thus creating a wonderful vibe on the street and helping people almost literally become 'one'.

Due permissions were taken to keep traffic flowing despite one side of the road being blocked — several roads that lead to bylanes were kept open in order to avoid traffic jams. "It is a good initiative and even though it caused us a bit of difficulty, it connected people together, which is good," said a traffic police officer.

"My grand children have never seen something like this — games like lagori and snakes and ladders. It is lovely to come here and see them play the same games that we once played... It brings back memories of a time gone by," said Jyoti Shah, who is 61 years old.
 

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