KPUMGBO

The kids won’t know this… the ajebos too maybe.

In all, m ga asi na the  game that I miss the most from those days bụ “kpumgbo”. For the sake of ndi secular seculorum (the public na-amarọ ka anyi si bido) ka mụ water ya down with a comparison nwe ike ịpaint the picture better. Kpumgbo bụ hide and seek or something like that. Mana make no mistake maka kpumgbo bụ Ovaltine where the regular hide and seek ịma bụ unsweetened cocoa. 

For real though, just watchianu ya,checkie ya out. In hide and seek you just hide and count gently, solemnly ka ndi biara Aja Missa, mana in kpumgbo, ọ the whole Pentecost crusade, some Wednesday adoration level of crazy! kpumgbo bụ a market eji shouts ele, the seeker tie “kpumgbo!” the hiders,running to their hiding places eresponduo with “oyoyo!” na onu ike o. basically ọ something like this:

Seeker: kpumgbo!

Hiders: oyoyo!

Seeker: kpibuo!

Hiders: oyoyo

This counting can actually continue to kpịnọ, kpise, just until the voices of the hiders become faint with distance or comfortable with having found a hiding place. 

Seeker: ọ mụ biawazie?

Hiders: eh! (or mba depending ka ha si zoo ọfuma)

Seeker: onye m jidere aka mụ adighọkwa ya, ọ mụ biwazie? (score yourself extra points if rapped this)

Hiders: eh!

Seeking ebido.

Another thing di worthy of note bụ na ana-eme hide and seek na “compound” with “siblilngs” mana kpumgbo bụ na yard, with every child bi na the yard na anọrọ on lockdown (m ka ga ekwu maka lockdown yard later). siblings ana ekwu maka ya so kwa eme the hide and seek bụkwa siblings mkpụrụ one na one eji family planning we halve ọ their would-have-been number. Mana I bia na kpumgbo, Udoka kacha echoose gi na ball ga eso, Obinna mma ya na your mum nụrụ ọgụ ga eso, Chika Jude nwanne gi your elder brother na a eye nọ there and Ifeoma ị bụ jack ya ọ bụrụ Rose gị na unu na a act titanic in the presence of people and in their absence na azu drum mmiri ha nọkwu there too.