The picture that most commonly depicts a ‘Techie’ or to use a more prosaic term, Software Engineer, is of a young man or woman dressed in uber cool outfits, glued to an iPad or one of those high end mobile phones or more often than not using these gadgets to play a variety of complex games. It seems that this is blatantly untrue!
At the ongoing Kreedaa Kaushalya, the exhibition of traditional board games at the Ramsons in front of the Mysuru Zoo, it was a pleasant surprise to the organisers to see techies avidly buying the traditional board games like Aliguli Manay, Pagaday and Adu Huli Ata!
Why ?
The reply was astonishing and astounding. "We thought that we would spend the weekend playing Aliguli Manay. and Adu Huli Ata" was the answer.
One of them said, "I have seen this (Aliguli Manay) in my grandmother’s house and recall my mother and other family members playing this game on Sundays. The whole family would gather around the players. It was great fun."
Nostalgia? Memories of grandma’s tales from the past?
"No", replied another. "This is a part of our tradition. I think we should do all that we can, to foster it. And what better way than sitting around and spending an enjoyable weekend day playing it."
Said another, "this game, tigers and sheep or goats... or leopards and cows... who cares... the game is sheer fun. Its tactile.There is communication between the players and their supporters, support that is at once loud and noisy with a lot of back-slapping.”
Adds yet another techie, "Ultra modern computer games do not give us this high."
"The very act of placing the tiger or the sheep and not knowing one misstep could mean ‘a tiger’s meal’ or a tiger cornered... this is fun. Everybody screams as you head towards disaster...” he continues. There is delighted laughter.
Another visitor, a Mysorean by birth and who is currently one of the top honchos of a software company in the USA was in Mysore for a sabbatical with her sons. Hearing about Kreedaa Kaushalya, she had dropped by with her son. The mother and son duo were drawn to the traditional game boards display at Kreedaa Kaushalya.
Spotting the variety of Aliguli mane boards, the boy turned to his mother, “Oh, man, that’s mancala, isn’t it ?”
They tried their hand at ‘Choukabara’ and finally settled for “Adu Huli Ata.”
Likewise the husband, wife and little daughter from Silicon Valley in the USA were here in Mysore visiting the husband’s parents. Their evening visit to Kreedaa Kaushalya led to an impromptu game of Aliguli Manay. The father’s attempt to teach his little daughter to pronounce, ‘Chouka bara’ resulted in the girl pronouncing, "Chouko - baaro”
Peals of laughter rang out as the father picked a choukabara set and exclaimed, "Chou-koo baaro!"
