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You wouldn't suspect as childish a game as carroms to cause volcanic passions to erupt, but it did in our childhood home.
Like the bare-bodied swinging old goon of Madras called RKN's HM-Father a 'fop', I too could sense traces of foppishness in my Madras Christian College alumnus HM-Father. In my childhood I would watch my Father's framed youthful photo with awe...he was in a well-cut suit, wore a trimmed mustache and a beatific smile, athletic, and a beau to the core. As the second born (out of 7) I knew a bit of his youth and his sweetish personality before it soured by and by as the family size increased explosively in step with his responsibilities as a HM...by then he was a victim of what is nowadays euphemistically called IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
And it showed up when he sat down for a game or two of carroms at home...which was when it rained and outdoor play was ruled out. As soon as we kids set up the board, he would drop everything he was doing and occupy the chairman's seat...he was very fond of the game. And since we were so many at home, it was always a 'doubles' and the vice-chairman's seat as his opponent was reserved for me. And one or two of the youngest sisters had to be coaxed to partner him.
And it was fun to watch his tantrums. He would never allow his partner to play her own game but adjust her striker each time and ask her to play a particularly adventurous shot. And of course she would unfailingly flop. And he would sigh, scream and shout at her as the game progressed. And when his own turn came, he too would try and exhibit his 'stroke play', but by then his IBS would take over. And he would mutter, groan and finally fling the striker on the ground and get up and go away...much to the relief of my mom who could never stand her hubby's bouts of foul temper.
When I was a Research Scholar at AU, we would watch the Faculty Club Singles Final in Carroms. It used to be always between one Sharma and another Rao. Sharma was cool as cucumber in his play which he used to call 'touch play'...he would never play a hard shot, wait a good minute that looked like an hour, rub his special personal striker over and over on his thigh, inhale deeply at his cigarette, inspect all the coins and their layout, and finally start playing gingerly with a minimum amount of force...it was all gentleness and artistry.
And when he finished his round and handed the chance over, Rao would pick up the worst possible jaded striker in the box, and go bang, bang, shoot, shoot in what looked like absolutely random shots...he called it 'power play'. One would expect statistically that equal number, if any, of the blacks and whites would enter the pocket...but no...he had his mesmerism. And finally when the chance went back to Sharma, he would have to re-think his whole strategy since all his well-laid plans had gone phut and take another couple of minutes to start...And finally it was always the random Rao who would invariably hit the winning shot. And when we asked how he did it all the time, he would smile and say that he practices hypnotism in his spare time...recall Feynman's defeat at the hands of the hypnotist?
At KGP it was always fun to watch Prof AVKR play his style of carroms. He would take the striker and put his thumb and forefinger together behind it and aim at a coin...and his hand would shake violently as if he had a Parkinson tremor and we would all grow nervous if he would at all release the striker...but in one of those millisecond tremor-free intervals his striker would take off and the coin would end up in the pocket, causing dismay to the opponent.
And there were a couple of Professors who would go about whole day with their keys in one pocket and their carroms striker in the other....they were so mad about the game. One of them tried to prepare an IIT Teachers Team to participate in the Nationals but of course nothing came of it.
And then I am told he shifted (out of frustration ;-) to a North East University as the HoD of Civil Engg...I can only hope he had better success building a Mizo Carroms Team there.
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You wouldn't suspect as childish a game as carroms to cause volcanic passions to erupt, but it did in our childhood home.
Like the bare-bodied swinging old goon of Madras called RKN's HM-Father a 'fop', I too could sense traces of foppishness in my Madras Christian College alumnus HM-Father. In my childhood I would watch my Father's framed youthful photo with awe...he was in a well-cut suit, wore a trimmed mustache and a beatific smile, athletic, and a beau to the core. As the second born (out of 7) I knew a bit of his youth and his sweetish personality before it soured by and by as the family size increased explosively in step with his responsibilities as a HM...by then he was a victim of what is nowadays euphemistically called IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
And it showed up when he sat down for a game or two of carroms at home...which was when it rained and outdoor play was ruled out. As soon as we kids set up the board, he would drop everything he was doing and occupy the chairman's seat...he was very fond of the game. And since we were so many at home, it was always a 'doubles' and the vice-chairman's seat as his opponent was reserved for me. And one or two of the youngest sisters had to be coaxed to partner him.
And it was fun to watch his tantrums. He would never allow his partner to play her own game but adjust her striker each time and ask her to play a particularly adventurous shot. And of course she would unfailingly flop. And he would sigh, scream and shout at her as the game progressed. And when his own turn came, he too would try and exhibit his 'stroke play', but by then his IBS would take over. And he would mutter, groan and finally fling the striker on the ground and get up and go away...much to the relief of my mom who could never stand her hubby's bouts of foul temper.
When I was a Research Scholar at AU, we would watch the Faculty Club Singles Final in Carroms. It used to be always between one Sharma and another Rao. Sharma was cool as cucumber in his play which he used to call 'touch play'...he would never play a hard shot, wait a good minute that looked like an hour, rub his special personal striker over and over on his thigh, inhale deeply at his cigarette, inspect all the coins and their layout, and finally start playing gingerly with a minimum amount of force...it was all gentleness and artistry.
And when he finished his round and handed the chance over, Rao would pick up the worst possible jaded striker in the box, and go bang, bang, shoot, shoot in what looked like absolutely random shots...he called it 'power play'. One would expect statistically that equal number, if any, of the blacks and whites would enter the pocket...but no...he had his mesmerism. And finally when the chance went back to Sharma, he would have to re-think his whole strategy since all his well-laid plans had gone phut and take another couple of minutes to start...And finally it was always the random Rao who would invariably hit the winning shot. And when we asked how he did it all the time, he would smile and say that he practices hypnotism in his spare time...recall Feynman's defeat at the hands of the hypnotist?
At KGP it was always fun to watch Prof AVKR play his style of carroms. He would take the striker and put his thumb and forefinger together behind it and aim at a coin...and his hand would shake violently as if he had a Parkinson tremor and we would all grow nervous if he would at all release the striker...but in one of those millisecond tremor-free intervals his striker would take off and the coin would end up in the pocket, causing dismay to the opponent.
And there were a couple of Professors who would go about whole day with their keys in one pocket and their carroms striker in the other....they were so mad about the game. One of them tried to prepare an IIT Teachers Team to participate in the Nationals but of course nothing came of it.
And then I am told he shifted (out of frustration ;-) to a North East University as the HoD of Civil Engg...I can only hope he had better success building a Mizo Carroms Team there.
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