NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 7 How Gilli Danda is played · Describe a group game — Let us Speak
Book page 84 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
Gilli Danda is a fun outdoor game.
• It is played with two sticks—one short (gilli) and one long (danda).
• One of the players hits the gilli with the danda to make it fly in the air.
• Other players try to catch the gilli.
(Explain how Gilli Danda is played.)
Answer
The book gives you three facts. Here they are first, in one line each.
Gilli Danda is played with two sticks — one short one called the gilli, and one long one called the danda.
One player hits the gilli with the danda so that the gilli flies into the air.
The other players try to catch the gilli before it lands.
Now here is the full game, as children play it, in steps you can follow.
Find a wide, open ground. Move away from windows, roads and small children. The gilli travels fast.
Make a small oval hole in the ground, or place a small stone. This is where the gilli will rest.
Divide into two teams. Decide by a toss which team strikes first.
The striker lays the gilli across the hole, so that both pointed ends stick out.
The striker taps the pointed end of the gilli with the danda. The gilli jumps up into the air.
While the gilli is still in the air, the striker swings the danda hard and hits it, sending it far away.
The fielders of the other team run and try to catch the gilli before it touches the ground. If they catch it, the striker is out and the next player of the team takes a turn.
If nobody catches it, the striker lays the danda across the hole and walks away. A fielder throws the gilli from where it fell, trying to hit the danda. If the gilli hits the danda, the striker is out.
If the danda is not hit, the striker measures the distance from the hole to the gilli using the danda itself. Each danda-length is one point.
The teams change over when everyone on the striking team is out. The team with more points wins.
The gilli rests across a small hole. The danda taps it up, then strikes it hard, and the gilli flies. The fielders try to catch it before it lands.
Safety first: Never play Gilli Danda near people, near glass windows or on a busy road. Keep the fielders well behind you when you swing. Do not sharpen the gilli into a needle point — a blunt taper is enough.
Why the gilli goes so far: The danda is long. When you swing it, the far end of the stick moves much faster than your hand. That speed passes into the small, light gilli, and away it goes. The same idea makes a cricket bat and a hockey stick work.
Q2.
Think of a game played in groups. Share the information with your classmates. You may include the following information:
1. The name of the game.
2. Whether it is an indoor or outdoor game.
3. Number of players needed.
4. Material required for the game.
5. Rules of the game along with safety instructions.
Answer
How to speak well about a game. Follow the book’s five points in order. Speak slowly and loudly enough for the back bench to hear. Do not read from your paper — look up at your friends.
Name the game in your first sentence.
Say clearly whether it is played indoors or outdoors.
Say how many players you need, and whether they form teams.
Say what material is needed — and if nothing is needed, say that proudly.
Give the rules in numbered steps. End with safety instructions.
Sample answer — Kho-kho:
Good morning, friends. The group game I want to tell you about is kho-kho.
Kho-kho is an outdoor game. We play it on the school ground, because we need a lot of running space.
We need eighteen players in all — nine in each team. But when we play in our colony we manage with six on each side.
The good thing is that we need no material at all. No ball, no bat, no net. We only need two poles at the two ends, and even a stick or a bag can work as a pole. That is why anybody can play it.
These are the rules:
1. One team is the chasing team and the other is the running team.
2. Eight players of the chasing team sit in a line, facing opposite ways, one behind the other.
3. One player of the chasing team is the active chaser. Only he may run after the runners.
4. The chaser may not cross the sitting line. He must go round the pole to change sides.
5. When he wants help, he touches a sitting teammate from behind and shouts “Kho!” That teammate jumps up and becomes the new chaser.
6. If a runner is touched, he is out. Three runners come in at a time.
7. The team that puts out all the runners in less time wins.
And these are the safety instructions:
1. Play on soft ground or grass, never on a cemented floor.
2. Take off watches, chains and spectacles before playing.
3. Cut your nails short, because you touch other players.
4. Do not push a player from behind. Only touch.
5. Drink water before you start, and again after the game.
Thank you. I hope you will play kho-kho with me this evening.
Other games you could describe: kabaddi, lagori (pitthu), langdi, hide and seek, dog and the bone, musical chairs (indoor), antakshari (indoor), and of course Gilli Danda itself.