“Not anymore” I wailed in dismay. The online classes and those long lectures on zoom had become so saturating that now my entire being was craving for something more exciting. It was the third month of lockdown and it almost seemed as if life had come to a standstill. How much did I miss the silly jokes at school, our little secrets, aimless gossip and the tiffin raids. As I lay on the bed reminiscing, I felt an ardent desire to reconnect with all my friends. PUBG too was banned, how could it get any worse than this! I cannot even begin to express how happy it made my mother, though.
While losing myself in thought, I suddenly remembered reading an article about a girl filing a case against her father who defeated her in Ludo. I lied there thinking how ludicrous, yet eventful the entire matter was. “Who plays Ludo?” I cringed as I thought. But spontaneous as I am, I decided to give it a try. I had reached that point where I would do anything to do away with the boredom.
I picked up my mobile phone and started texting my friends inviting them for a game of Ludo. At first, all of them were reluctant saying that it was too childish a game to play but then knowing it was better than facing the monotonous boredom they had come to recognize over the lockdown, they agreed on a trial round. Who could possibly know that the game we were about to play would change our perspective on the lockdown?
So, the four of us- Hriday, Uday, Karan and of course me, downloaded the Ludo application on our phones and joined the Ludo room. We were all set and excited. We chose our colours and started to roll the dice. The prime feature of this app was that we could even communicate with each other while playing. That was the main motive of us playing the game. I was so confident of my luck (bad luck, rather) that I had decided that I was going to lose beforehand.
As I had foretold, I was the last one to roll a six and get out my first coin while Uday had two and Hriday and Karan each had one coin out. Hriday even played his hand at derision, saying that the ‘turtle had finally entered the race’. After a few rounds, I had finally reached one step before the home lane. It was right then that Karan who needed a one to defeat me, managed to roll that one. How could my luck deceive me so, I thought. Then came the notation I was expecting, -” Back to pavilion”, said Uday. I, Karan and Uday had one coin in the house each whereas Hriday had 2 coins completing his length of the game.
SQUISH SQUASH, the next few rounds were filled with cutting and getting cut as we had entered into the middle game. There was going all the way back to the start of the game and then re-entering all over into the game. All four of us were trying really hard to get our luck to work and expecting for some miracle to happen.
“I am the VIRAT of this game!” Hriday claimed. One coin to go and I am the winner “Yeah, right but remember every Virat has an IPL too” I said. I contemplated over throwing stones as I was in a glass house myself. I let out a sigh of disbelief.
The next to go back to the pavilion was Hriday’s blue…
Wow, I thought. Unbelievable how tables could turn like that in a flash of a second, I thought. Before I realised, my dice suddenly started rolling sixes and all the desired numbers. I suddenly felt like the Shakuni of Mahabharat.
Uday, who was almost there, kept waiting for the dice to roll 1 but the number 1 did not like him I suppose- the dice neither showed him that number nor was it his position.
But then the unexpected happened, destiny decided to bestow all its mercy on me. And before I realized, all my coins were in the home lane. Now it was both me and Uday craving for that 1, while Karan and Uday were still racing their horses to the home ground. And then came the moment, the dice rolled…and yes, it was 1.
I felt like I had conquered Jumanji...I could now relate with totality to how “Allan Parrish” would have felt when the exact number rolled. That was a really exciting game.
Well, the game no doubt refreshed me but it taught me very important lessons. One- nothing is impossible. We just have to be in the game and not call it quits. We never know when a zero can become a hero. And of course, Never blame destiny-it is up to us how we think and our actions determine our course. We all stand that chance.
While these thoughts ran through my mind, Hriday broke my train of thought and said, “Oh man the tortoise has won yet again. So slow and steady indeed wins the race. What say, guys?”
“Yeah- never knew our kindergarten lessons would come live” Karan joked.
“But say whatever I must admit that it was indeed a lot of fun. It is unbelievable how some games really do not have an age. So, what about catching up tomorrow as well after classes?”
“Wow, great idea!” I blurted out.
Now my days were not boring in lockdown. Thanks to Ludo and its lessons
(And they lived happily ever after… until the exams came up)
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