#MetroDiary 36: Games people play

More than a year ago I had tried to write something on games we play https://ladybugsfieldnotes.blogspot.com/2017/02/games-we-play.html and likened life to playing hopscotch. You can not play hopscotch in a metro though. If you are however a regular commuter in office time Delhi Metro, you have to mostly participate in athletics in the connecting stations. That's a popular sports indeed. I also see people sprinting at the end of their journey! 😮 This puzzles me a lot! It seems line an extension of the aeroplane syndrome. It is that "if you do not get down in 3 minutes, the flight will fly away with you" syndrome. However, to be fair in stations like Laxmi Nagar, Nehru Place, Vaishali, the queues to check out gets pretty long  and if one has a long commute even after the metro ride, one probably would like to run. The sprint also makes me hopeful about future of my country in international athletics. And as you can see from the results in the recent Asian Games, my hopes are not at all misplaced. 

I will defeat you, my friend!

In the long journey in Delhi metro people also play games in their mobile phones. That is when they do not watch endless videos.  Do not ask me all the name of the games. I only recognise the Candy Crush as they are played with those colourful gems. However, the other day in a rush hour metro two men were playing a game we are familiar with since our childhood. They were playing Ludo. In that metro compartment that was filled upto the brim, they made a world of their own with a phone doubling as their Ludo board. Ever so alert even while balancing themselves, the two men enjoyed their game and played to win. It was fun to watch them! It reminded me of a time in smaller towns when men used to go out to a "club" (no, not the rich man's sense) where they played Carrom, Ludo or Bridge with younger unemployed youth of the area. As the game progressed, I looked around for other people and tried to spot any other game that was in progress and I found another man busy playing the favourite game of this sub-continent, that is cricket! This was not so interesting for me though as he was playing alone , but in his mind he was not at all alone. He had a team playing with him. He had to strategise. Place the fielders. Bowl too. He enjoyed his game of cricket quite a lot! These three were different from the rest of us. Whereas we could not wait to get down from the metro train given how stuffy it got given the number of people who were onboard, they enjoyed every moment. I looked at awe at the cricket playing gentleman. He was happy at a moment, concentrating in the next, and sighing with relief in the following. 

Winning or losing; it does not matter

Not all games are played in the metro though. Some are discussed. A group of young girls giggled as they discussed the plan. 

"Can we write a letter and throw at him?"

"How will he know it's for him?"

"Let us write his name"

"Don't throw! He may get hurt. How about leaving it on his desk?"

All her friends laughed out loud, pinched her and went "Ooooooooo". Not only silence but laughters also speak a thousand words at times.