On a cafe terrace in the Peloponnese port of Nafplio a grey-haired Greek man worries a string of beads as he stares out to sea.
Click click. Click click. The beads fall in twos down the loop of thread; for hundreds of years, the hypnotic sound of the komboloi has regulated the rhythm of Greek life.
As Greece lurches from economic crisis to bank bailout, the click-click of the traditional worry beads has become a reassuring constant, even - perhaps especially - for the young.
What was once regarded as an outdated habit practised by the elderly with plenty of time on their hands, komboloi are now enjoying a comeback.
At her desk in the world’s only komboloi museum, owner and co-founder Rallou Gromitsari is surrounded by strings of glistening multi-coloured beads.
“People are looking for something simpler,” she says, passing a string of 10 hand-cut pieces of amber strung on silk from one hand to the other.
“There is a problem in Greece with money and many of us are scared of the future. The work situation is not good, and we are trying every day to pay the money the government wants from us. Times are difficult and this has made people very stressed.
“Because of this pressure, more and more young people are coming here looking for komboloi.”
Humans have long been fascinated with beads, whether bone, clay, stone or semi-precious jewel. The Old English word bede means prayer, and many religions use them to worship.
Greek komboloi are thought to date back 800 years to the monks of Mount Athos, who first knotted string to count their prayers, then used whatever they could find - wood, shells, olive stones - to make beads. Today, however, komboloi have no religious significance and come in all shapes, sizes, colours and materials.
“I tell visitors looking for a komboloi to start with the colour,” says Gromitsari. “To go outside and turn them in the light, then touch the beads, feel them, play with them; the komboloi must be comfortable in their hands. Then I say, listen to the sound of the beads, the clicking. This is the music of the komboloi.”
In a nearby taverna, 21-year-old Athenian Stelios Kouletakis is serving tables to pay for his theatre studies at Nafplio university.
“Lots of elderly people have komboloi because it’s an old tradition. They’re passed on from father to son. I bought a cheap komboloi to give up smoking and it worked a bit, but not enough because I started again. I’m going to get them out and try again. It’s a good distraction,” he said.
At the Metropolis hotel, a short walk from the Acropolis, owner Thomas Tsiaktanis swung a komboloi around his hand and through his fingers like a professional magician performing a card trick. His son Kostas watched and looked to the ceiling.
“Of course everyone has them,” said Kostas. “But they are part of the stereotypical image of Greece. Men sitting over a coffee or ouzo, playing with beads when they should be working. It’s not the image Greece needs.” – Guardian News & Media