State adds hopscotch, jump rope to list of athletic pursuits; will promote them at school level.Musical chairs, that dizzying pastime of raucous birthday parties and sprawling picnics, has been declared a sport. It is one among approximately 100 additions to the list of officially recognised sports drawn up by the state government.According to an official at the Directorate of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS), musical chairs, and other such “disciplines”, having received recognition from the government, will be integrated “on a trial basis” into the roster at sports meets organised at the school level over the next three years. A functionary at the directorate told Mumbai Mirror he was “confident the government will be convinced to disburse grants to encourage the growth of these sports” after the three-year period has ended.Hopscotch, jump rope and rope skipping are three other everyday diversions that feature in the DSYS list - the last two recreational activities are essentially identical, requiring the participant to skip over a cord vigorously, but have been deemed separate and will each have an independent office bearer responsible for its advancement.Musical chairs has had a group of enthusiasts lobbying for official recognition for a significant amount of time. “We have been conducting a competition for the last ten years,” Maharashtra Musical Chair Association (MMCA) secretary Tukaram Thombare told Mumbai Mirror. “Now we have to manage this as a sport for three years. If the government feels we have done a good enough job, it has promised us the same facilities and grants that other sports are granted.”According to Thombare, 30 of Maharashtra’s 35 districts have sent teams to the championship that the MMCA has held each year for the last decade. “We want to promote this sport because we don’t want children who are not good at other sports to sit idle,” he said. “Besides musical chairs helps build stamina and keeps people fit.”Suresh Gandhi, secretary of the Asian Langadi Federation (ALF), is surveying the landscape beyond Maharashtra’s borders. He wants to take hopscotch, the game he represents, international. “Langadi is played not only at the school and university level,” he said. “We have a championship coming up in Thailand in July. India has played a triangular series with Nepal and Bhutan and a bilateral series against Nepal.” Among its other advantages, Gandhi said, is langadi’s adaptability. “It demands no equipment and can be played on any surface,” he pointed out.A DSYS official, who asked that he not be named, told Mumbai Mirror the meagre financial outlay required for these games to be promoted as sports was the reason why the state had bloated the list of recognised competitive athletic pursuits to include musical chairs, hopscotch and jump rope.However, the official cautioned that the DSYS could find itself battling additional paperwork. “Conducting these sports may not hurt the state treasury, but the Maharashtra sports department has to help in administering their growth,” he said. “Also, we don’t even have coaches for some of these sports as they are unheard of. So the promotion of these sports is restricted to just the office bearers.”Thombare is unruffled by such concerns. He is preparing for the 10th State Musical Chair Championships scheduled to begin in Sholapur on April 10. “Let’s see who will win it this year’s title,” he said. “It will be a tough competition between defending champions Ratnagiri, runners-up Ahmednagar and third-placed Latur.”