Carrom Crazy

The elegance of nine black coins, nine white coins & a red queen arranged in a manner so as to form a perfect circle. The euphoria of sending one or more of white coins to pockets in the very first shot. Waiting with bated breath to see if the cover gets through after the queen is pocketed. The serendipity of pocketing a coin, the actual target being miles away. Keeping a hand under the unsewn pocket to catch the falling coins. Carrom! I'm crazed by this game.

Carrom is one game that I can claim to have some mastery over. Rummy is the only other game. ;-)I like Chess too, but I hardly got partners to play with. Although a sharp mind is not a prerequisite to play carrom, unlike chess, one has to use the brain to play the game well. Carrom is not just about striking the target. The force with which the striker hits the coin plays a pivotal role. The combination of the two is enough to pocket the simple ones. The tougher ones need to be dealt with flamboyant cuts and clever rebounds, which comes only with practice.

I never got bored playing carrom. In childhood days I would play carrom for hours, even without a partner. I would place coins on akward postions & practice to pocket those. I would continue this exercise until I was convinced that the next time I came across coins placed on those postion during a match I would pocket them, pants down. ;)

Although I have not won any medals/cups, the skills that I acquired didn't go waste. It did amount to somthing later when I won a lot of bet matches - the loser had to take the winner to "Fruit Shop" & buy him whatever (s)he orders. I have tasted about a dozen juices at Fruit Shop without spending a paise. In fact, I have not treated anyone at Fruit Shop to this day. :D

Strangely, we played a lot of carrom during exam seasons. Especially the night before the exam. I guess it was our idea of relaxing. But in the end we would be so tired of playing carrom for long hours & open the book for relaxing. :D

I have not played carrom for sometime now, but the spirit in me was rekindled by a mail which announced the carrom tournament to be conducted in the office next week. I was the first to register for the competition. :D