Ludo. eh?
The game we all played as kids. Before we learnt cards that is. I mean, it's cooler to shuffle cards and look all mysterious than roll dice, right? It's strategy against luck!
The game we all played as kids. Before we learnt cards that is. I mean, it's cooler to shuffle cards and look all mysterious than roll dice, right? It's strategy against luck!
I'd always been good at ludo. Either I had incredible luck, or I was just good at looking at probability fields, whatever it may be. It was a game that we, cousins'd spend our lazy afternoons in Puttur at our grandparents' house playing. That house was the literal personification of the dark ages. Musty rooms, no water supply (our mothers would pail the water home from a nearby well) a spare 2-3 lights and a couple of fans that electrocuted you should you not be careful, and no TV!
Over time, all that has come, but nothing could beat those memories. The time we went exploring the hills. Entire days spent in the huge temple courtyard during the fairs. Playing cricket and losing balls in the huge gorge that overlooked the house and constantly being chided by our grandmother, and who can forget my grandfather's expertise in making paper boats and origami? That man was a genius! There's so much I could say about them, but that's not the point...
We all grow older, right? And we lose some, we win some... I'd all but forgotten the joy that hid behind the roll of the dice. The glee that getting a 6 brought us. The horror that followed getting three of them. Untill last year...
There was this organization I joined. Mostly community service. And I frequented this old age home tucked in the cornering confines of a colony in Manipal. There was nothing much we could do there. So went back to the basics. Playing Ludo was the highlight of our visits there.
One lady stood out from the rest. She looked like the happiest person in the world while playing. Behind those warts and wrinkles was an angelic smile that never once faded. We called her, 'Magic Ajji' because was near invincible while playing Ludo. She was the first one to get all coins out of the house. And the first one to win the game beating us all by a huge margin. I'm a person who hates to lose, and I don't all that often, but she gave me the run for my money. Every time I went there, I'd challenge her for the 'Championship' and every time I'd have my ass handed to me.
The year passed. One Sunday, I was at the old age home. Another at the Orphanage. I'd been thinking of some very unconventional career options but never mustered the courage to tell my parents about it. They still, to this day maintain that Engineering is an attractive option because you'll get a job and my brother is more or less being forced in the same direction but with a little less ferocity... I digress, that's a story for another day. So the year, came to be unfolding events and new experiences. Months rolled by, exams started. I got, 'busy'
New Year's Eve. Srujan called me up and told me he's game for a project at the old age home. Okay, I guess. No other project was scheduled for the day. I was not really interested in going that day... Makeup Examinations had left me horribly behind on work but I did go. There were new faces there. A round of introductions and some chatting. I fished out the Ludo Board to set up a game. "Magic Ajji Oller?" I asked. I wanted to beat her this time.
Only then was I told the news. She passed away came the reply. At that moment, all that I knew about the place turned into a lie. Nothing was true anymore. It had been a month since her passing. I realized I hadn't visited the place in quite a while and wasn't ready or prepared to admit that someone in there could die. Cease to exist after a day. I don't know... I wanted another game, I guess. But the ludo game wouldn't be the same without her incredible luck beating us by miles!
Luck! It's a funny thing isn't it?
I put the board back in. And switched on the TV. We put on a movie and started watching it with them. I couldn't concentrate because my mind was looping around our last game. And how I told her the next time we played, I'd beat her. That next time never came to be...
While walking back home, I tried to wrap my head around quite a few things. I never got to say goodbye to my grandfather. He died around a decade ago. A day before my birthday. I didn't go to visit him because I had school the next day! Was that really worth it? I hadn't seen him for over a year and one fine day I learn that he is no more and I should accept that. All that I had to remember him by was his books, and his coin collection that I got.
My grandmother is still alive. Well, half alive... she's never been the same. There was a time when she was irritable and used to annoy us all. Now she's all somber and silent. Forgetful and robotic in her activities. You can see the glaze in her eyes and know everything isn't alright. I miss her being annoying. This, is not normal.
She calls me sometimes. Tells me to come to her place. I'm usually 'busy'. And postpone it to another day. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to wake up tomorrow and find out she's gone. And the last time we spoke, she asked me to come, but I was too busy with something. I don't want the guilt of not remembering what I was 'busy' with.
I'd rather the last time be me playing ludo with her...
Over time, all that has come, but nothing could beat those memories. The time we went exploring the hills. Entire days spent in the huge temple courtyard during the fairs. Playing cricket and losing balls in the huge gorge that overlooked the house and constantly being chided by our grandmother, and who can forget my grandfather's expertise in making paper boats and origami? That man was a genius! There's so much I could say about them, but that's not the point...
We all grow older, right? And we lose some, we win some... I'd all but forgotten the joy that hid behind the roll of the dice. The glee that getting a 6 brought us. The horror that followed getting three of them. Untill last year...
There was this organization I joined. Mostly community service. And I frequented this old age home tucked in the cornering confines of a colony in Manipal. There was nothing much we could do there. So went back to the basics. Playing Ludo was the highlight of our visits there.
One lady stood out from the rest. She looked like the happiest person in the world while playing. Behind those warts and wrinkles was an angelic smile that never once faded. We called her, 'Magic Ajji' because was near invincible while playing Ludo. She was the first one to get all coins out of the house. And the first one to win the game beating us all by a huge margin. I'm a person who hates to lose, and I don't all that often, but she gave me the run for my money. Every time I went there, I'd challenge her for the 'Championship' and every time I'd have my ass handed to me.
The year passed. One Sunday, I was at the old age home. Another at the Orphanage. I'd been thinking of some very unconventional career options but never mustered the courage to tell my parents about it. They still, to this day maintain that Engineering is an attractive option because you'll get a job and my brother is more or less being forced in the same direction but with a little less ferocity... I digress, that's a story for another day. So the year, came to be unfolding events and new experiences. Months rolled by, exams started. I got, 'busy'
New Year's Eve. Srujan called me up and told me he's game for a project at the old age home. Okay, I guess. No other project was scheduled for the day. I was not really interested in going that day... Makeup Examinations had left me horribly behind on work but I did go. There were new faces there. A round of introductions and some chatting. I fished out the Ludo Board to set up a game. "Magic Ajji Oller?" I asked. I wanted to beat her this time.
Only then was I told the news. She passed away came the reply. At that moment, all that I knew about the place turned into a lie. Nothing was true anymore. It had been a month since her passing. I realized I hadn't visited the place in quite a while and wasn't ready or prepared to admit that someone in there could die. Cease to exist after a day. I don't know... I wanted another game, I guess. But the ludo game wouldn't be the same without her incredible luck beating us by miles!
Luck! It's a funny thing isn't it?
I put the board back in. And switched on the TV. We put on a movie and started watching it with them. I couldn't concentrate because my mind was looping around our last game. And how I told her the next time we played, I'd beat her. That next time never came to be...
While walking back home, I tried to wrap my head around quite a few things. I never got to say goodbye to my grandfather. He died around a decade ago. A day before my birthday. I didn't go to visit him because I had school the next day! Was that really worth it? I hadn't seen him for over a year and one fine day I learn that he is no more and I should accept that. All that I had to remember him by was his books, and his coin collection that I got.
My grandmother is still alive. Well, half alive... she's never been the same. There was a time when she was irritable and used to annoy us all. Now she's all somber and silent. Forgetful and robotic in her activities. You can see the glaze in her eyes and know everything isn't alright. I miss her being annoying. This, is not normal.
She calls me sometimes. Tells me to come to her place. I'm usually 'busy'. And postpone it to another day. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to wake up tomorrow and find out she's gone. And the last time we spoke, she asked me to come, but I was too busy with something. I don't want the guilt of not remembering what I was 'busy' with.
I'd rather the last time be me playing ludo with her...