Concerning bashi

[writinghawk]

The boat for Kudafari (and several other nearby islands) left Male' on Wednesday night. It was an overnight trip, fourteen hours in all. I dare say I have described these trips before. The boats are cargo boats with two covered decks and no facilities for comfort other than hard wooden floors on which one can, if one has been prudent enough to

Comments

[kalypso_v]

You appear to have done quite well on working out the scoring system, which is of course what interests me most. But if it's a women-only sport, why did Mohamed Ameen play a leading role in establishing/codifying it?

[writinghawk]

Although it's played by women, men certainly take an interest, watching and acting as scorers, ballboys, linesmen etc. I caught the end of what seemed to be the national bashi championships on TV in the cafe yesterday, and there was a male commentator who afterwards went up to a member of both teams (the captains, I suppose) with his microphone to get their comments on the match. Apparently Ameen Didi took a relatively enlightened interest in women's affairs: he established their right to vote (not that voting meant much at the time) as well as the first girls' school in Male'.

Incidentally bashi is also the Dhivehi name of the aubergine, and I'm told it used to be played with a more egg-shaped ball and derives its name therefrom. The substitution of tennis balls, rackets etc was supposedly part of Ameen Didi's codification.