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Kokla Chhapaki (Drop the handkerchief)

Sit in a circle and watch your back.

Players
6 or more
Ages
5 and up
What you need
A handkerchief or a rolled-up cloth

The rhyme — 'kokla chhapaki jumme raat aayi je, jehra agge pichhe vekhe, ohde kutte di shaamat' — is Punjabi, and it warns that whoever looks behind them is in trouble. Children across India sing it without knowing a word of Punjabi, and it has survived that way for generations.

How to play

  1. 1Everyone sits in a circle facing inward, eyes forward.
  2. 2One player walks around the outside holding the cloth, singing the kokla chhapaki rhyme.
  3. 3Quietly, they drop the cloth behind someone.
  4. 4If that person notices, they grab it and chase the dropper around the circle to their empty place.
  5. 5If they do not notice before the dropper completes a lap, they are out — or take a turn in the middle.

Good for the body

Short sprints from a seated start, which is harder than it sounds, plus the flexibility of sitting cross-legged for a while.

Good for the brain

Sustained alertness with nothing to look at. Staying attentive when nothing appears to be happening is genuinely difficult, and it is the same attention an exam hall asks for.

A note for parents

A gentle game that suits mixed ages, since a five-year-old and a ten-year-old can play together on fair terms. The rhyme itself is often the first bit of Hindi or Punjabi a child in another state learns.

Played today?

30 min

Ask a parent before going outdoors.