It’s bright summer here in India. Mysore-Bangalore are filled with fully blossomed Gulmohar trees. The red trees look very pretty as if wearing a RED HAT. I had to stop by one of the blossomed trees to show my husband some games we played with the Gulmohar flower buds, in my childhood of course. Actually, I was surprised that he didn’t know of the rooster-fight game! I spent my childhood summer holidays visiting my grandparents in Mysore and I learnt these games from the neighboring kids back then. And of course I vividly remember them. Two things I taught my husband this weekend; the rooster fight and the fake witch nails J |
| Rooster fight game |
To play the Rooster fight you need a bud. Then peel the outer green part that is the sepal. You see the young red baby petals all closed up. Then peel the petals too to find a bunch of stamens (the filament & the anther). That is your bunch of roostersJ. Then you take one stamen at a time & entangle in your opponents stamen & pull. The one to lose the anther first looses! HA HA..I know it sound like a lame game, but this is what kids play at their age. And believe it, my husband & I played two full games in the super sunny afternoon! It’s catchy! Try and play!
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| Witch Nails |
And once our game was done, I showed him how you wear the fake witch nails. Remember those green sepals we peeled at first. You peel a bit of the red covering on the inner side and stick it on your nails. Voilà! You have long sharp GREEN nails!!! Rawwrrrr…
We don’t realize in the fast life, how many childhood memories are so fresh in the farthest corner of our brains. Isn’t it so cool? Or am I captivated with the movie Limitless, I saw this weekend? <wink>
Also to mention, all those words like sepal, stamen, anther etc I just took them over the internet. It’s not like I remember the whole of my botany lessons. All I remember was stigma! There, a sincere confession!
Gulmohar tree picture from: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/2567733984_6c8f61e244.jpg
oohhh man... I must have spent countless afternoon playing the rooster game with my cousins when we were kids... and also the fake nails thing... kinda makes you glad we didnt have the video games :-)
ReplyDeleteI know, right? These and so many other indoor games we played...different times :)
ReplyDeleteMy wife wasn't willing to accept that there is something called as gulmohar flower fight. Glad I stumbled upon your blog, now I can show it to her that it's an actual thing.
ReplyDelete