Gerishna: Is it probable that a traditional local game like “Khar-tapaloo” be such a universal game, played from the east to the west of the globe? Mobile social networks like Instagram turn out to give amazing answers.
Khat-tapaloo is a two-team game in which a team forms a chain at a wall, and then the opposing team tries to break the chain by jumping over them. Last week, Saeed Raygan’s photo of some children playing “Khar-tapaloo” was published in @everydaygerash, a mobile photographic project in Instagram which features pictures taken in Gerash. Some days later, it was republished in @everydayiran, which actually supports the previous page.
The photo attracted more than 2200 likes in Instagram, and a lot of users from around the world claimed than they have played the same game in their countries. It turned out that in Turkey it is called “Long Donkey” and is played exactly the same as in Gerash (more information here). A user form Spain said that in Catalonia, this game is called “Cavall Fort” which means “Strong Horse”. Another user wrote in Korea this game is known as “Matlagi”, meaning “Horse Riding” (more information here). And another user, from no nearer a country than Mexico, wrote that in their country, this game is called “la burriquilla”; although a search in google showed that, based on the pictures of the play, the name “Chinche al agua” is more probable (more information here).
Some words and expression in this news story:
traditional local game: بازی سنتی محلی
mobile photographic project: پروژه عکس موبایلی
Khar-Tapaloo: خر تپلو
Instagram: اینستاگرام
Saeed Raygan: سعید رایگان
@everydaygerash: «گراشِ روزمره» یا «هر روزِ گراش». عکسهایتان را با همین هشتگ برای این صفحه بفرستید.
Long Donkey: خر دراز
Strong Horse: اسب قوی
Horse Riding: اسبسواری
Chinche al agua: نوعی سوسک آبی
