How To Play Pallanguzhi ? A Traditional Game To Help Kids Develop Mathematical Skills
How to play pallanguzhi , Akka? is a question every older sibling hears when all the cousins gather! Much like today’s modern board games, pallanguzhi was a serious affair. Fights and arguments would break out, not over the outcome but about who gets to play first. But, alas, it never mattered if you learnt how to play pallanguzhi a week ago or five years ago. The game board has room for two players only, and the oldest siblings of the group would often be the ones to go first while the little ones cheered on and screamed in frustration while they sat on the sidelines. But, of course, you’d know which ones were the favourites soon enough!
My grandmother’s house was nothing short of a riot in the summers. Screaming children, small puddles of spilt buttermilk in the corridors, and at least one child shouting with tears trailing down their face, “Teach me how to play pallanguzhi amma!” followed by complaints about how the older ones wouldn’t let them play. Because, in their eyes, the game seemed simple enough, and all you needed were deft fingers to swiftly scoop up the counters and transfer them from well to well. However, they couldn’t be more wrong.
Pallanguzhi is a game of strategy and mathematical calculation. One would have to be entirely focused as they tried to beat their opponent, taking all the counters for themselves at the end.