'When We Were Young...' Sandalwood celebs on their favourite game as a kid

As the sun sets on a summer day, you count down from 10 as your cousins find hiding spots in nooks and crannies throughout the street. Maybe youve spent the day playing cricket and causing havoc with friends, or indoors, enjoying games like chowka bara or aliguli mane with your grandparents. Whatever it may have been, the games we play as kids, the people we play them with and the ways they form us and our experiences of childhood, are undeniable. As children across the country gear up to be celebrated and pampered on November 14, CE takes Bengaluru celebrities on a stroll down memory lane by asking: What are the games that really shaped your childhood? Pranitha Subash, actor After school, I would rush over to my neighbours. There were eight of us girls in the same lane where we lived, all about the same age. I mostly played hide-and-seek with my girl gang. Now I see it has become a common game; even a one-year-old is picking it up. My son hides behind the curtains and says peek-a-boo this generation calls it that, but for us, it was hide-and-seek. I think the game appeals to all ages. We also played Marco Polo blindfolded, and we would often turn it into a treasure hunt mixed with some challenges, as we saw on Nickelodeon. Thinking about those times makes me feel blessed that we had so much free time and didnt need moms to arrange playdates. Nowadays, its become complicated to keep kids engaged, but back then, it was pretty convenient. Pranitha Subash Rajavardan, actor I used to love cars and often played with a lot of car toys. Hide-and-seek was another fun game that I played with friends. I would hide in tricky places, and when they finally gave up, I would come out laughing! From playing with toy cars to going on long drives and even off-roading with my cousins now, it has become one of my best stress busters. I enjoy playing hide and seek and little races with my younger cousins, too its fun watching them enjoy just like we used to. I really think its important to keep these simple games alive; you dont need phones or gadgets, just friends, laughter and a little imagination. Rajavardan Pruthvi Ambaar, actor I was born and brought up in a remote village and my go-to game was obviously cricket. But besides that, was mara kothi, literally translated as tree-monkey game, where one player went to pick up a stick while others climbed the trees as high as possible to never get caught by the opponent. As kids, we used to play this game very often. Samyukta Hornad, actor My dad was a little strict, so TV was banned in my house. As soon as we came back from school, a lot of us used to be on the road playing lagori, cricket, kunte bille (hopscotch), chowka baara and other games that my grandmother used to teach us. One of the things that made me who Im is playing outside in nature with dogs, cats and other animals. Even now, during my time off, nature is my escape. Cricket is one of those games that I continue to play today. Everyone in my family is obsessed with cricket. I even play it during film shoots one of the games was on the sets of Max (2024). Samyukta Hornad Nirup Bhandari, actor My brother, Anup, and I used to play cricket, especially during summer vacations in Puttur. We had a group of three to four friends and wed race our cycles around the area. We also played board games like carrom, snakes and ladders and chenne mane, which is common in Mangaluru. We loved playing lagori too. One memory I recall from that time is of my cousins and me playing a card game with a rolled-up mattress next to us. One of my cousins suddenly said, Look! A snake!, pointing at something sticking out of the mattress. I confidently pulled it, saying, Eh, no, its just a belt, and suddenly it moved (laughs). It was a house surrounded by a forest area, so when we opened up the mattress, it slithered away. Nirup Bhandari Vasishta Simha, actor I spent most of my childhood on the streets always playing, always into something. We had separate groups for different games: lagori, kabaddi, gilli dandu and cricket. Among them, goli was my go-to whenever I visited my hometown, Ramanathapura. Goli had many variations, one was where you lined up the golis and shot it to a hole. Of course, the fun often turned into playful fights targeting opponents and focusing on winning. After a session of goli, wed head to the Kaveri river for a swim. I really miss those street games; at our age, our lifestyle doesnt allow that. Im waiting for my son to grow up so I can play with him. Back then, it was easy to socialise, play and bond with each other. We never worried about vitamin D deficiency because we were always out in the sun, building immunity while socialising came naturally. Vasishta Simha Chandan Kumar, actor My friends and I used to play cricket with a paper ball and an exam pad as our bat (laughs). We were always getting in trouble with our parents. Once, I brought a puppy home to play with and hid it in a cardboard box, thinking I could take care of it without anyone knowing. But it cried through the night, frightening me because I believed in ghosts back then and thought the sounds were coming from a spirit. That night, my parents found out and I got in a lot of trouble!