Chungi

Also चुँगी.

A ball of rubber bands, kept in the air with the side of the foot and counted kick by kick. The game of a school break in Nepal, Darjeeling and the hills of northeast India.

Who plays
One at a time in turns, or a group in a circle.
What you need
A bundle of rubber bands, often cut from a bicycle's inner tube, tied in the middle.
Where
A school yard, a lane, anywhere flat.
When
Any time, and most of all at school break.

Making a chungi

Stack a handful of rubber bands, often cut from an old bicycle inner tube, and tie them tight in the middle. The cut ends spread out round the knot, and the bundle comes out a little flat on top and bottom. The Nepal Academy dictionary calls chungi a game played by making a bunch of rubber bands and bouncing it on the feet.

BandsTied in the middleSpread out
Three steps to a chungi.

How it is played

Agree a number

Before a turn, the players agree how many kicks make the target, and how far the back-kick at the end has to go.

Kick and count

Kick the chungi up with the side of the foot and count every kick aloud. Feet only: a hand on it disqualifies you.

123…Every kick counted
The count is the score, so it is said aloud.

The back-kick

At the target, twist and kick the chungi backwards as far as it will go. Its distance is measured in foot lengths, heel to toe.

12345678
The back-kick, measured in foot lengths.

When the turn passes

A drop, or a back-kick that falls short of the agreed distance, passes the turn to the next player. One reader of the Himalayan Times remembered scoring more than fifty at one go.

Other ways to play

A group can stand in a circle and keep one chungi up between them, or kick it to each other without letting it land. The Kathmandu Post remembers a version where the longest count on one leg wins.

What is on record

  • 1956An article by Barnouw on customs of eastern Nepal, in the Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, is cited by Wikipedia for chungi. It would be the oldest record of any game on these pages, but it could not be read for this page.
  • 2005The Nepali Times names chungi as one of the games that drew children away from dandi biyo.
  • 2018The Himalayan Times remembers girls playing it in groups at break time.
  • 2019The Kathmandu Post lists it among the games of a Nepali childhood, with the one-leg version.

Where the sources disagree, or say too little

Who played it?

The Himalayan Times remembers it as a girls' game at break time. The Kathmandu Post, Wikipedia and ECS describe it as every child's.

Is it in an article of 1956?

Wikipedia cites Barnouw's article of 1956 for chungi. Nobody who worked on this page has read it, so the page claims nothing from inside it.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Where a source could not be read, or a claim has none, the text says so.

  1. Chungi, Wikipedia
  2. चुङ्गी, Nepali Wikipedia (in Nepali)
  3. चुङ्गी, Nepal Academy dictionary, as copied to Nepali Wiktionary (in Nepali)
  4. More than just child's play, Nikki Hamal, The Himalayan Times, 25 February 2018
  5. Old-school games to take you down memory lane, Arjun Bhattarai, The Kathmandu Post, 21 November 2019
  6. Nepali Street Games, Aarti Basnyat, ECS, July 2010
  7. Sticks and stones, Aarti Basnyat, Nepali Times, 11 March 2005
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