 My favorite pambaram |
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| Kondai pambarams |
As I was going through some old stuff in the loft, I found out my long lost spinning tops ( Pambaram in Tamil) that I had played with in my childhood. One was a normal pambaram and the other two were "kondai pambarams" ( with a raised head). The kondai pambarams were gifts from Mary appayee ( my grandma).
I remember, the first activity after buying a top was the insertion of the iron nail. If not hammered carefully or if the top was not of good quality, the nail insertion might crack the top. Sharpening the nail on a rock was an important aspect for a competitive game! The tops that came ready made with the nails were slightly expensive. The rope (saattai) that was used to wind the top usually came in red or white color. The red one was a bit expensive and popular! A metal cap of a soft drink was flattened and inserted into the rope and helped as a support for the fingers while unwinding the top.
The game i remember playing with my street friends was simple. Everyone needs to spin the top and lift it up with the rope and catch it in the quickest time (abeetu). The one who catches last or the ones who fail to catch or fails to spin the top (going "mattai") are the losers. The losers then have to place their tops inside a circle. The rest will then try to dislodge these tops either by hitting them directly or by dropping them from their hands on top of the losers tops. The wicked aim was to dent or break the losers tops! The dent was called as "aakar" and the action to hit was the "aakar adi". There was a funny punch dialogue that kids used to utter while aiming for the " aakar adi" that invoked the name of 'mangamma' and something that went like "jaadi sonna sine". Iam unable to remember the full dialogue. ( if anyone remembers please add it in the comments)
More the dents, more the shame! The affluent kids, to safeguard their best top, had a spare top (called as " pondatti Pambaram" that translates as the "wife top") to place inside the circle and take the beatings!
It was a game of quick reflex and agility.
The game was usually seasonal and after a few weeks of intense playing, the interests changed and the next season of golly gundu (marbles) or kitti pullu picked up.
Those were " top" days indeed!
The game unfortunately lost out (along with many other local games) with the advent of television and the raise in popularity of Cricket ...
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| Picture courtesy essar |
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| Pic courtesy TKClicks |
Love your pambaram! Valerie
ReplyDeleteGreat post about that old game!
ReplyDeleteI have always loved tops -- they're such fun and I'm still captivated. But I had never heard of a game with them. That was really intriguing. Thanks for that!
ReplyDeleteI had 4 brothers and 1 sister growing up. Tops were part of our games. Nice memories
ReplyDeleteWhat fun
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this very much. These lovely photos brought back memories of one I had as a child. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of something my kids would play but I can't think of the name. It wasn't quite like this though.
ReplyDeleteThis post reminds me of my childhood days too. I used to play tops with my friends mostly boys about my age. My boys played tops too. I don't know whether they still keep any top in their drawer.
ReplyDeletewe had tops - when we were very small we had a very large metal one the size of a football, painted with nursery rhyme characters, small ones like yours when we were 10 or so and like you we enjoyed spinning them - I wish these games would make a comeback, children have lost the ability to compete at anything other than computer games it seems and competition in the playground is important for character building in my opinion :)
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories from your childhood. I remember the spin tops, they were fun!
Take care, enjoy your weekend!
I remember it from my childhood. I'm your new follower. May you follow me back?
ReplyDeleteThanks and have a nice day!
Spinning tops were always fun to play as kids. So glad you found your childhood ones and that you kept them. What treasures they are.
ReplyDelete~Sheri
You were pretty creative with your tops as a child. We had tops as children, but I don't remember any games, and our interest in them didn't last that long. We were more into yoyos, and learning all the tricks of playing with them.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun you had then, and such a shame it's all but disappeared. You've reminded me that we had spinning tops when we were kids, nothing like yours but they've also been forgotten by todays technokids!
ReplyDeleteSpinning tops, beautiful to play with.
ReplyDeleteVery nice memory. It made me think of the tops I also had as a kid. They were fun to play with.
ReplyDeleteIt is almost quaint to think of spinning tops today. I wonder how many children would even know what they are.
ReplyDeleteThose tops are very cool. How fun to find not only the tops, but all those fantastic memories of childhood too.
ReplyDeleteGreat toy to preserve and great street photos ~ namaste ^_^
ReplyDeleteLiving in the moment,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Nice one bro. Mom brought one old top here. To my amazement Rebekah started playing with it well.
ReplyDelete