The Game of “Girakan”

First Lane:

Jamal and Malalai are watching flags in a magazine in the alley. Jamal asks Malalai about Afghanistan’s flag. Malalai points to a flag but Jamal does not accept and points to another flag. Peddler arrives and after greeting, he asks about their argument.

Jamal shows a flag in the magazine to the peddler and says that its Afghanistan’s flag and adds that Malalai does not accept. Peddler asks about Afghanistan’s flag colors. Jamal says that it has two colors but Malalai says four colors.

Peddler turns on the talking box. A boy, a resident of Sarobi district, Kabul province says, “Our flag consists of 3 colors black, red and green.” Some other children say the same thing about Afghanistan’s flag color.

Children say that they could not understand about the flag. Peddler gives each of them a flag to know about the color of Afghan flag. Children become happy and they promise to share the information with their friends too. Peddler goes to the next lane.

Second Lane:

Yasir is making an airplane from a paper. His sister, Rabia comes and laughs. Yasir asks the reason. Rabia says that she remembers a joke about the plane. Meanwhile, the peddler asks Rabia to wait for him too. Peddler arrives and Rabia tells the following joke, “A boy asked another boy that he heard from the radio that someone has stolen a plane but he doesn’t know how one could run away with an airplane. The second boy said that the thief waits when the airplane gets smaller in the air, then he steals it.”

Peddler likes the joke. The children ask the peddler about their gifts. Peddler says that he would teach them a new game “Girakan” and then he turns on his talking box.

A boy, a resident of Jalwani village, Guldara district, Kabul province says, “Girakan is plaid with more than 3 persons and they would be divided into two even groups and they draw. The winning team would run and the second team has to capture each of them. When they capture all of them, then the second team would run and the first team would capture them.”

The children learn the game and the peddler goes to the lane of the story.

Third lane:

Najeeb and Fatima are waiting for the peddler and Golden Wing Fairy to come and tell them a new part of the story.

The fairy comes with the peddler and the children welcome them. Fatima asks the fairy to tell them a new part of the story. Fairy asks them to tell them what happened in the previous part. Fatima and Najeeb repeat the previous part. They say, “Hameeda was very happy and wanted Naseer to give the necklace to her to show it to her mother but Naseer said that would try to find its owner, meanwhile, their neighbor, Wazhma came and asked about the nice necklace. Hameeda shared the whole story with her. Wazhma asked Naseer to give the necklace to her but Naseer denied and said that it’s not her necklace. Wazhma said to Hameeda that if Naseer gives the necklace to her, then she would give her a nice doll to Hameeda.”

Golden Wing fairy tell them the third part of the story:

 Lost Necklace: Part Three

Hameeda went home and told the whole story to her mother and what Naseer told her. Her mother appreciated Naseer for not giving the necklace to her. A few days later Naseer toke his flock of sheep again to the pasture and when he was coming back home, he saw that one of his sheep is missing from the flock and he could not find it and went back home.

The next day, Naseer went to the pasture again to find his sheep but he did not succeed. He sadly sat beside a big stone.

Meanwhile, his sister, Hameeda arrived at the pasture. Naseer saw the necklace in Hameeda’s neck and he became angry with her and asked her why she had worn the necklace.

Hameeda said that when she was coming to the pasture, a man saw the necklace and said that it belongs to a fairy but she ran away from him.

Hameeda wanted Naseer to go with her back home. When they wanted to go, they heard the bleating of the sheep from a cave. Naseer and Hameeda entered into the cave. Hameeda was afraid of the darkness of the cave and asked Naseer to go back but a terrible voice told them that no one could go out from the cave.”

End part three.