Short Stories For Everyone
Inspiring incidents from Gandhiji's Life: Selected from the book Everyone's Gandhi
(For the children in the age group of 10 to 15 years)


Gandhiji writing

SHORT STORIES FOR EVERYONE

Gandhi's inspiring short stories selected from the book Everyone's Gandhi

Editor by : Rita Roy


Table of Contents

  1. All for A Stone
  2. A Car And A Pair of Binoculars
  3. My Master's Master
  4. Enter The Monkeys
  5. Premchand Quits His Job
  6. Returning His Medals
  7. Basic Pen
  8. Prisoner No. 1739
  9. Gandhi's White Brother
  10. Who Saw Gandhi?
  11. An Early School
  12. An Unusual March
  13. Spiritual Heir
  14. The Less You Have The More You Are
  15. An Old Goat Talks
  16. The Phoenix Settlement
  17. Gandhi in Amsterdam
  18. Something To Be Shy About?
  19. Gandhiji The Matchmaker
  20. Gandhi's Army
  21. Dandi Snippet
  22. Hiding Something
  23. The Image Maker
  24. Creative Reader
  25. Postcards To The Rescue
  26. A Non-violent Satyagraha 214 Years Ago
  27. Gandhi And Delhi
  28. Gandhiji's Constructive Programme
  29. Gandhi Looks At Leprosy
  30. Baba Amte
  31. They Gave Peace A Chance
  32. From Mahatma To God
  33. Customs Are Out of Fashion
  34. The Man 'Charlie' Wanted To Meet
  35. It Came Naturally To Him
  36. Crossing The Sea of Narrow-Mindedness
  37. Wear Clothes As They Should Be Worn
  38. Education: For Life, Through Life
  39. The Abode of Joy
  40. To Cling to A Belief
  41. The Fruit of A Child's Labour
  42. An Ideal Prisoner
  43. How A Film Became Something More
  44. Gandhi: Beyond India
  45. Gandhi's Life-Saving Medicine
  46. Understanding The Mechanics of Life With Gandhi
  47. The Lokmanya and The Mahatma
  48. Man's Gift To Nature
  49. Gurudev And His Mahatma
  50. One-man Boundary Force
  51. What Does Mahatma Gandhi's Message Mean To Me?
  52. Let's Play Together
  53. Children's Response To Conflict
  54. Beggar By Choice
  55. The Better Half
  56. Uncle Gandhi
  57. The Watch: An Instrument For Regulating Life
  58. Light The Lamp of Your Mind
  59. Gandhi's Bet!
  60. Gandhi Feeling At Home In The Kitchen
  61. What Is Simplicity?
  62. Bapu And The Sardar
  63. The Power of Quality
  64. Gandhi: The Teenager!

Chapter 52: Let's Play Together

Piet Dijkstra

"If we are to reach peace in the world we shall have to begin with children," said Mahatma Gandhi.

Today, a vast majority of games and sports that are played have the overruling factor of competition. A desire to win is the main objective. Winning, of course, has the feeling of being great, glowing with the achievement of having won. But losing, on the other hand, gives the loser a feeling of inadequacy and failure. The number of players who can win, compared to the number of losers, is small. The contrast with this is the way of playing where everyone can win.
A few years ago the Gandhi Foundation in London published an Educational Pack: Let's Cooperate, an introduction to cooperative games. The pack consists of two books and a video film Let's Co-operate. The author of this invaluable pack is Ms. Mildred Masheder.
This provides a wealth of information about cooperative games as well as activities for peaceful conflict resolution. The Gandhi Foundation was attracted to these two elements: cooperative and peaceful conflict resolution.
Why co-operative games? Well, all players find it mutually beneficial to help one another. The pleasure comes from working together, rather than being the only winner. Seeing the world in turmoil, the Foundation believed that citizens of tomorrow should work cooperating with others in a nonviolent and peaceful way.
When attending one of the Gandhi summer Schools in the U. K. the author first explained the ideas behind the method; then showed the video-film, but most important, put us all, children and adults to play themselves. It was a real hit and both kids and adults enjoyed it greatly.
The two books contain about 400 games that rely on collaborative efforts of the players to achieve a joint aim. Besides that, the author has avoided being exclusively western in choosing games. There are games from other parts of the world, making the effort really international, such as a Takraw a game played in Thailand, Dithwai from Lestho in South Africa, Shash na Pani from Afghanistan, Guli danda Known in many Asian countries, Dalpauay from Philippines.
The games are lessons of sharing and give and take.