Cricket and All That: January 2016

My son Ammar's latest fad are Beyblades. These are like tops which spin, but a lot more sophisticated than a normal top.

This reminded me of our Lattu लट्टू games in childhood

I explained to Ammar about the 'Lattu' लट्टू we used to play with our childhood.

We played with these, normal wooden tops, in our childhood.

I explained to Ammar the terminology we would use in relation to Lattu , like -

Gunj गुंज - it is the metallic nail like think which is hammered into the wooden base of the lattu. Its bottom edge can be of differen shapes depending on what is intended to be done with it. The Lattu spins on the 'gunj'.

Gunj Thokna गुंज ठोकना - the act of hammering the gunj in the Lattu, mostly done by a pro.

Latti लत्ती - it is the thread/rope which is tied around the Lattu (see photo)

Chilphi Urana चिल्फी उड़ाना - in the Lattu game or competition, a small circle is drawn in the ground and the rival lattu's are placed inside it. Then the person whose 'chance' it is to make the hit, tries to land his Lattu with a lot of force on one of those placed in the circle to cause maximum damage to it. The best hit is when one of the luttus is split into two parts rendering it useless . This is called 'Bella Phaar'. बेल्ला फाड़ . Something like a home run in baseball! On the other hand if the strike chips a small part of the rival Lattu , that is called 'Chilphi Urana'. This is pretty commendable too.

I am forgetting some of the other terms we used. Also, this was in Ranchi (now Jharkhand). In different parts of India it may differ.....

Now to the modern day Beyblades.Here is the Wikipedia Definition -

Beyblade is a brand name for a line of spinning top toys originally developed and manufactured by Takara Tomy, first released in 2000. The toys usually include a 'launcher' – a device for bringing the spinning top up to speed, with either a separate or integral rip-cord. This 'ripping' action causes the tops to be ejected, at the end of the movement. Players eject the tops into a plastic arena or into a pan with a slightly dished base, where they subsequently strike each other. The last top still spinning wins. Skill can be used in the deployment of the tops, which significantly influences the way they move around the arena, and subsequently interact. The different styles of device respond to collisions in different ways, so advantage might be gained from using a particular type of top against a particular opponent.

They come with a 'launcher' and rip chord though which you can impart the spin. They come in myriad shapes and sizes with many accessories.

Some terminology associated with Beyblades are -

Each Beyblade has a different type. It determines what Type they are best at. The types follow a "Rock-Paper-Scissors" sort of program: Attack beats Stamina, Stamina beats Defense, Defense beats Attack.

Attack: These Beyblades specialize in attacking other Beyblades. They battle fiercely and try to knock out the other Beyblade as fast as they can. They tend to outperform Stamina-Type Beyblades due to their lack of defense.

Defense: These Beyblades specialize in using defense. Just like the saying "the best offense is a good defense", they stay in one place and defend themselves, becoming almost immune to attacking Beyblades, thus making an Attack-Types mismatched against this type. They stay in place to defend.

Stamina: These Beyblades specialize in stamina. They are used so they can out-spin the enemy Bey and win. In exchange for a lack of power, their stamina last-longer against other Type of Beyblades making them naturally advantageous over Defense-Types, which focus on resisting hits.

Balance: These Beyblades specialize in a mix of the other three types listed above, giving them no glaring strengths or weaknesses. They use a mix of Attack, Defense, and Stamina Types put together to make an even mix to win.

Many of them are limited edition , which Ammar calls 'rare', which are difficult to find even on Amazon and eBay.

The terms we used for our Lattu games appear pretty crude compared to Beyblade's rather evolved and slick terminology, but we had no less fun !!

About Me

When I was a Bachelor Boy

Dhoni & Ranchi

Papa - Grandfather

Aahistaa Ladiss...Patla Ladiss and Other Stories

Sunny Days

The Day I Slipped Out of my Office to visit Lord's

When I was a Bachelor Boy

My Favourite Cricketers - Viv Richards

Sehwag : Part Sublime, Part Ridiculous, Simply Unforgettable

Tendulkar Tales

Dadagiri - Sourav Ganguly Tales

What's in a Name.....