Arvind Gupta Illustrions: Avinash Deshpande

1 STRINGGAMESA rvind GuptaIllustrions: Avinash DeshpandePublished byNational Book TrustA-5, Green ParkNew Delhi 110016, IndiaPrice Rupees Forty onlySting games provides step-by-step instructionswith illustrations for making diverse and interestingstring figures. The fun-filled figures created byusing strings of all sorts not only augment memoryand imagination of young children but also enrichtheir hand-eye is used for a number of things - from tying parcels to making bags and nets. Everyoneneeds string or something to tie with. This something is different in different parts of the Eskimo uses thin strips of sealskin to lash together his sledges or to fasten an axe-head to itsshaft. Vegetable fibres are a very common form of string among natives - we ourselves useraffia in a number of ways.

2 Sutli is very commonly used in India for tying things together. Somenative Australians use human hair - tile women grow it for their men folk to use - while othersuse the great sinews from the Kangaroo s legs .One common habit which almost everyone has is of fiddling and playing with anything thathappens to be in their hands. You see it in buses when people fold or pleat their tickets and yousee it in when pieces of string are knotted and twisted is easy to picture a group of natives idling over the mending of their fishing net One personfiddles with an odd length of twine tied into a loop until his neighbour exclaims Why, you havejust made a house of string ! Someone else might now be inspired to copy the same stringpicture.

3 This is probably how most of the 750 documented string games were can t be very sure but this is how many of the string games started. For you go where youwill - to the arctic north or to the coral islands of the Pacific string games are everywhere. TheEskimos with their long winter darkness, lasting for months, had plenty of time and became veryclever at making string pictures. They will show you string pictures of deer, bears and otheranimals, of birds, kayaks (skin boats) and such like. The Navaho and Apache natives ofAmerica are adept at making tipis (tents) and little animals like coyotes and rabbits. Each racehas its own string figures and when you come to think of it this is natural - for how would anEskimo make a string picture of a palm tree, or an Australian of a polar games are great fun.

4 They exercise your memory and your imagination. They are great forhand and eye coordination. At times, the step-by-step instructions and illustrations for making astring figure might look difficult but the actual making of the figure might be really simple! So,don t panic if you have problems in your first few attempts Just go back to the beginning andstart again. Soon you will have a good feel - for the is best to start with the easier figures and as you feel more comfortable to go oil to make thosefigures that have more steps and are more complicated. At first you will have to remember all thesteps. But very soon your fingers will remember them for you. So learn these string figures andshare them with your friends.

5 They probably will show You some new ones. If you keepexperimenting, who knows you might invent some wonderful string figures of your own. Soalways carry a string in your STARTP eople in the past have tried to document string figures. For this they often made drawings of thefinished patterns. Some even tried sticking the finished string pattern on a piece of cardboard. Thetrouble is that once the string figure is finished, it is almost impossible to tell how it was made. Tomake it easier for beginners to make string figures, the fingers of the hands have been named as thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger and little finger as shown FingerMiddle FingerRing FingerIndex FingerLittle FingerThumbLeft HandPalmWristPalmRight HandTO NAVAHO A LOOPWhen you have loops on your thumb-a lower and an upper loop you can Navaho these loopsby tipping down your thumb and letting the lower loop slip off.

6 You can straighten your OF STRINGHow long a string should you take? As ageneral rule, a two metre long string which willmake a metre long loop will do well. But thenthere are people with long and short arms andthere are children. So a quick and easy way tofind the correct length of string for your veryown loop is to hold one end of the string andthen stretch your arm up in the air, and cut thestring where it touches the A LOOP FROM THE STRING1. To tie a reef knot first lay the right end ofthe string across the left Put the right end under the leftstring to tie the first part of the Now lay the left end across the right end4. Put the left end under the rightstring and tighten the Trim the ends to make a neat and tiny THE string ENDS BY MELTINGIf the string is made of nylon, then both its ends can be melted together, to make a very tiny andalmost invisible knot.

7 You might need adult help to do Hold the ends of thestring about a centimetreabove the candle the ends willbecome soft and When two molten blobsappear on the ends, stickthem together. Wait for aboutfive seconds to let them cooland then roll them betweenyour fingers to get a of the string figures start with a base. It is important to master them Hold a loop of string in your righthand and place it behind and aroundyour left thumb and little Repeat the above step with the righthand. This is called the Starting Position, orPosition Now bringyour rightmiddle finger toscoop up thestring from yourleft palm andpull the Both your hands willnow be in this With your leftmiddle fingerscoop up thestring from yourright palm andpull the This is called the Middle Finger Baseor Opening A.

8 This is the most Instead of using the middle finger,you can use both your index fingers,to make the Index Finger Marks the string whichyou pick up or drop StringNear StringTHUMB TRAPThis is a very simple string trick. The end is very tricky too!1. Put the string in the thumbs and littlefingers of both hands. Give the loop atwist to make a cross in the Now lift the left palm string with yourright index finger. Lift the right handpalm string with your left index Put your thumbs into the forefingerloops as shown in the Hold the string underneath yourthumbs. Release the index and littlefinger strings of both the Bend your hands Full your hands apart as far as theywill You will be surprised thatboth your thumbs will betrapped in a loop of GREAT ESCAPEYou can challenge a friend to remove the scissors without cutting the Passing one end of the string loopthrough the scissors hole.

9 Weave the otherend loop of the string through this Pass the other end of the loopthrough the scissors second finger Hold one end of the loop and give the scissorsto a friend and ask him to free the scissors fromthe loop of string without cutting The way to do this isto loosen the loop knotmade in figure 1 and pullthe the opposite finger Pass this loop all theway over the not twist it By pulling on the other endof the loop string you will beable to free the MAGICAL TRICKThis easy trick has a magical Hold the loop of string in both yourhands. With the right hand string on topmake a small loop within the large Place the top of the loops betweenyour teeth. Put your right index finger(downwards) into the small Holding the large loop inyour left hand, swing theright index finger over andaround the long right handstring and up into the largeloop as Touch yournose with yourright hand Release the strings frombetween your teeth.

10 Pull the largeloop away with your left hand andthe strings will magically dissolveaway from your right index amazing trick will provide you and your friend a lot of will need two pieces of string and a Tie the two ends of a string tothe two wrists of your Then ask your friend to take the secondstring and tie its two ends to both your Both you and your friend willnow be linked can you both separate?4. Hold the loop ofstring that ties yourfriend as this loopunderneath the stringthat you have tiedaround your leftwrist. Do not twistthe loop Bend your left hand downand pass the loop over Now straighten out your left hand tomake the loop of string move to the Step away from yourfriend and you will both beseparated!