You live and learn!!

What a wonderful set of blog readers we have.

56er Ubi gave me this background:

Dear Jacob,

David Colaco is dead right! He has described it as it was!

I thought you were looking for the origins of the game.

I can remember fellows like Stefano Episcopo, Ralph Mukherjee, "Tum Tum" Aresh, Eruch Shroff, Zulfi Currimjee, Dewjee, amongst a host of other worthy heavyweights.

Tara Malkani was exceptionally good at this game, despite his not so heavy frame!!

It was not only the weight that counted but also the WAY one landed on the backs of those bending down that broke their backs!

BUT, it was incumbent on the team landing on the backs of the bending team to stay on!

As was the case often, because people landed badly and awkwardly, they slipped off!

If that happened, they were disqualified and the team on the receiving end then got their turn to jump on the backs of the others!

It was not a PT game. It was a "Quad" activity, just like Quad cricket and football-except that C. J. Olliver had "institutionalised" Quad Soccer with the "Free Booter's League", for which he had made that legendry trophy that was so fiercely fought for!

Regards,

Ubi.

We were all harping on the words "kitty kitty" because of our Anglo-Scottish schooling heritage.

Along comes a wise 49er Naval Patel from Mysore, and tells me that it is "kiti kiti" which means "How many?" in Marathi!!

Now we have it all - the origins itself - a Maharashtrian children's game enjoyed by all of us in our Cathedralite environment! Much better than the computer games of today with all the violence we wanted! :-)

Thank you 69er Dileep Hurry, thank you 59er David Colaco, thank you 56er H. S. Uberoi, and thank you 49er Naval Patel! A 20 year cross-scection 60 years down the road.

What would this blog be without you guys.