One of the most cherished memories of my childhood was this beautiful teak wood, championship grade carrom board. The old baby pink striker was embossed with a fish that had scales. Eventually, mom got us a pearl white one, which wasn’t as smooth as the pink one, so we never gave up on our old faithful, until it was time to let go of the rotting board. After dinner, mom, my brother and I would play a few rounds, with the two of us team up against mom. The three of us got pretty good at it with time, but it’s been ages since we played together.

Mom would usually tell me about how dad was a pro at the game and would usually beat all his colleagues to win quite a few accolades at work. Mom and he would play on weekends, against my cousin and grandpa, and so neither have the gloating rights that they beat each other. He’d occasionally cheat too, but only at home for a few chuckles and harmless fights. He was quite the charmer, so people say it was rather difficult to be mad at him for too long.

I had the chance to play with a few office colleagues, but my game has become quite rusty, to say the least. I had a good partner, so we won the game. The other indoor sports that we enjoyed a lot was playing cards. When mom comes to stay with me, we tend to play rummy almost every night. Mom would call it quits if I won too much, and I would back out if I lost a lot of hands. Mom and I bond over cards so much that I even picked up a set at Sri Lanka!

Another game I love watching and my brother loves to play is cricket. Being Indians, we can love it, hate it or play it, the game is an integral part of our living. Broken windows, tennis balls, rubber balls, walls-for-stumps, and the love for batting is something all of us grew up with.

Finally, the last board you see in the pictures is chess. I know how all the pawns move, but the moves I make doesn’t keep me safe from checkmates. That is something which suits my brother’s personality and intelligence best!