COWHERD BOYS SNATCH GAME

By chanting one Hare Krishna mantra a child is chosen to lead the game. Then two teams are formed with an equal number of players. They are each given a cowherd boy name. One on each team is given the same name. For example each team will have a Krishna, a Balarama, a Raktaka, a Subala, a Sridama, etc. The two children having the same name in each team must be of equal running capacity. Two fast children may be matched, for example, to be Balarama, and two slow ones as Raktakas. The two teams line up about fifteen yards (15m) away from each other. In the middle between the two teams a lunch bag is placed (a cloth or a small ball represents the lunch bag). As in Krishna’s pastimes with His cowherd boy-friends, the children will play stealing the lunch bag. The leader stands halfway between the two teams and calls out a cowherd boy’s name: “Krishna snatch,” or “Subala snatch,” etc. immediately those two children bearing that particular name run from their must run once around the leader and then back to his team without being tagged by the other child. If he succeeds, his team gets a point. If he gets tagged, no one gets a point. The leader keeps track of the points. While they run, all the other children chant Hare Krishna very loudly to encourage them.