June 2022 | Page 13

Kreeda : Redefining the Traditional Games of India

It all started in 2002 . Vinita Sidhartha , the founder of Kreeda , was watching her sons play traditional games with their great grandmother . She was struck by how much both generations enjoyed the experience and how unique and wonderful the games were .

A journalist by profession , she decided to do a series in the Young World of The Hindu so other people too could be introduced to the joy and beauty of traditional games . The response to the articles was incredible . Numerous people reached out wanting to know more about the games and how they could be played . And that ' s how Kreeda was born .

Kreeda , meaning play in Sanskrit , was an initiative by Vinita to bridge this gap in play material which introduced children and adults alike to traditional games . In the initial stages , Vinita had never intended Kreeda to be a long-term venture . But within a few weeks of the games hitting the stores , the ethnically packaged brown boxes with bright red and yellow print , and eco-friendly sustainable material , flew off the shelves . Kreeda soon became an initiative to provide the best of traditional games which are Indian in spirit and global in quality .

Today Kreeda celebrates its 20th year , with 28 games in the market . The journey has been a long one with a lot of learning along the way on the intricacies and challenges of the industry . But as people grow more and more aware and proud of their Indian heritage , the desire to play these games and introduce the coming generations to these games seems to be getting greater .

Kids India E-Magazine - June 2022 | Page 13