During your childhood days you must have played a few games which kept you engaged and engrossed with your young friends. Traditonal games such as Satolia, Gilli-danda, Ghota-dari, Poshampa etc. are today vanishing from our social canvas. Modern day kids who are more interested in television, computer games and music players are losing out on such experiences which had earlier been an inseparable and natural part of a child’s growing process. Children should sure be encouraged to play cricket, football, badminton, tennis and hockey, but in the process we should not forget our age old traditional sports. Being part of our larger cultural and social canvas, they need to be preserved, and Sewajyoti is working in this direction.

One must remember that not all leisure activities are the purview of the elite, and there are sporting events created by those who live in smaller towns and villages that are related to pastoral activities. The people create their sporting activities as they go along. In rural areas, competitive events are more usually held during religious or social fairs. These can include camel races, or bullock races. Visitors may ask for demonstrations and then join in such local sporting events as kho-kho and gulli-danda, team events played in virtually all the lanes and streets of Rajasthan. In addition, there are races involving the carriages that animals may be used to pull as a part of their daily activity schedule.

We try to popularize them by organizing sporting activities for rural adults, women and kids. Such events have generated enormous interest among the local people and media for being so simple and interesting. 

Sewajyoti organizes rural sports competitions during Shekhawati Handicrafts and Tourism Festival. Sports such as Matka Daud, Matka Fod, Gilli Danda,Rrounder Balla, Hardara and Lunkyar attract large number of people. Prizes are distributed to the winners by Sewajyoti. We also organize rural sports such as camel race, horse race and Jugad race.

The process started in 2005 with organization of a district level rural sports competition in the memory of Late Sh. Radheshyam Ji Morarka. Winners and runners up were presented with shields and cups. Winners of individual events received cash rewards. Since then, the event is being organized on an annual basis. Many lively traditional sports that people had forgotten are now coming to the fore. Sewajyoti feels that many more such competitions should be organized in different parts of the country to preserve an important part of our cultural heritage.