A presentation made by the 5th graders of Millennium National School for their friends in Norway. This is part of the information exchange program between the two countries.
2. • Lagori is a team sport played in India. It is
played with fervor and a lot of excitement
by the youth. It is a simple game that gives
maximum excitement. It’s almost akin to
avoiding bullets in a firing range, where
one twists and turns to avoid the hit.
3. • This game is generally played in a huge
ground, that has the capacity to take a lot
running and also noise. Lagori is a noisy
sport, in the sense that the players make a
lot of noise by calling out or shouting-out
instructions to their teammates. It’s noisier
than a group of clucking hens in a cage!
4. • Called saat-pathar (seven stones), pittu
and several other names, Lagori is the
most complex popular children’s game in
India, and is rather like Dodgeball, but
more aggressive. A pile of 7 stones is
arranged in the center of the court. The
defending team has its players taking
turns attempting to knock down the pile
with a tennis ball, from a throwing crease
line.
5. • . If you knock down the pile, but somebody
in the opposing team catches the ball,
your entire team is out and play switches
sides. But if you knock it down and they
don’t catch it, then the real game begins.
The defending team, which brought down
the pile now goes about trying to stack it
back up, while the attacking team attempts
to hit the rebuilders with the tennis ball.
6. • The dynamic is very weird, as the rebuilders dart
around near the scattered pile, trying to rebuild,
and repeatedly scattering as the opposing team
takes shots at them. Both attackers and
rebuilders tend to coordinate in emergent ways.
There are no formal leaders. If the rebuilders
manage to restack all 7, they win. If the
attackers manage to hit every one of the
rebuilders with the tennis ball before the
restacking is complete, they win. Then they get
their turn at attempting creative destruction.
8. • How to get started?
• 1) You will need a pile of stones. The stones have to be
in a dimension to so as to enable it to stay in a vertical
pile. The pile length can be 5 stones high or 15 stones
high. Randomly chosen stones give maximum fun value,
as they vary in their shape and size, and re-piling them
will make for comic value.
• 2) You need a ball. The ball is used to hit other
members, so a soft ball should be used. For more
stinging thrills, you could use a harder ball.
• 3) You need a team. The more team members, the
better.
• 4) You need a ground to play on. Don’t play in a ground
with obstructions like trees or poles.
9. • Rules
• 1) A toss decides which team strikes the stone-pile first.
• 2) A player of team A dislodges the stone-pile with the ball. As soon
as this is done, team A’s players try and reassemble the pile back.
• 3) Team B tries to stop it, by hitting team A’s players with the ball.
This will render them out.
• 4) Team B, trying to get them all out, will target at likewise all the
players of team A.
• 5) The aim of team B would be to disallow team A to rearrange the
stone-pile.
• 6) After team A’s turn, team B will play
• Lagori is best explained when played. So logon to lagori fast!
