"Buchuru" and "Safi" Marbles

BUCHURU” and “SAFI” MARBLES

Of all the Zanzibar sports that we indulged in, it would seem that the most popular were the games that we played with marbles.

It became popular because it could be played by two participants or as many as six.  There were several variants of the game which I shall describe to you in confusing detail.

The most popular marble game was called “Sokodico”.  The game was simplicity itself.  The participants drew a circle in the sand, then walked some ten feet away from it and drew a line in the sand.  This was to be the starting point.  Each player tried to throw a marble as close as possible to the circle.  The person who landed closest to the circle was first in line to start the game. 

 All the marbles were then placed strategically in the circle by the person who was “furtherest” from the circle.   From the starting line, players were required to take aim and strike the marbles out of the circle with another marble.  If a marble was hit and it moved any other marble that remained in the circle, all the marbles were to be returned to the circle for the next participant to have his turn at striking the marbles.  Huge arguments arose if the marble that was struck lay on the line of the circle and an arbitrator was called in to solve the problem.  This gave way to further arguments that the arbitrator himself was biased and that another judge aught to be brought in.  Amidst, some of the most heated arguments with every player trying to be heard at the same time, somehow a resolution was reached.  It was a wonderful way to let out steam and to determine who had the best vocabulary of swear words.

There were some players who came to play with marbles that were so badly chipped with wear that they resembled cubes rather than marbles.  These marbles were referred to as being “buchuru” marbles. Of course this was another cause for heated arguments over the admissibility of these marbles in the game.  More often than not, buchuru marbles were reluctantly allowed but this was only because the owner of the buchuru marbles put on an expression that he was being bullied by the gang only because they had “safi” marbles.  Furthermore, friendships were on the line and in the interest of maintaining this, buchuru marbles were sometimes allowed.
 

Another argument that became quite serious was the size of the striking marble.  Some of the players produced marbles three times the size of an average marble (gololi kubwa: Dungomaro) and it was thought that there were two reasons why they should not be allowed.  By their very size the player had an advantage over the other players, and these marbles usually rendered the marbles in play to become buchuru.  This argument failed when some players produced “Chuma Marbles”.(marbles made of steel) These were not permitted in the game of Sokodico.  However, they came in very handy when playing the game of “Ukuta”.

In the game of Ukuta, players were expected to bounce their marbles against a concrete wall and let it roll as far away as possible from the wall.  The next player then tried to bounce his marble so that he could come as close as possible to his opponent’s marble.  If it landed within a hand span of the other marble, he won the opponent’s marble.  Sometimes it was a treat to watch players trying to extend their thumbs and little finger so that they could touch the other marble.  It was a good exercise to ward off arthritis.

The next game was called “Shimo”.   A shallow hole was dug.  Players threw their marbles in as close as possible to the hole or into the hole whichever was possible.  Then the players took turns trying to push the various marbles into the hole with one hooked finger.  If the marbles landed in the holes it was theirs to keep.

There were quite a few marble thieves among us.  One young guy used to abscond with marbles by wearing tennis shoes that had a big hole in the soles.  When the marbles were spread around by a whole lot of players, he would walk over the marbles and urge them through the hole in his shoes, and walk away with them.  The blame game then began among the players with each one “swearing before God” that they were not responsible for the sudden disappearance of these marbles.

I used to invest most of the pocket money (ten cents a day....you know the big coin with a hole in it)  in buying safi marbles.  I kept them in one of my mother’s nylon stockings.  However, I had such poor eye/hand coordination, that it was not long before all that I had left was my Mom’s stocking.  I sometimes wonder why I was always invited to play a game of marbles.

 It had nothing to do with my popularity, except in an underhand way!!!