Blood and Tears (Nostalgic Tale #2)

Carrom board is a game of emotions for 90’s kids. We shout; we argue, we fight for absolutely no reason. But we still love that game so much. I am going to write about the game and what it meant to us.

In our whole street, I am the one with the carrom board. So every day after school gets over everybody will run to my home to play. It was not a great board honestly, it’s an old wooden board with a crack in the center of the board and smells of baby powder. But still, it looked so priceless to us. My friends may not own board but they got themselves a striker for each one. Yes, we believe that we all have a close connection to the strikers. We sometimes even pray to them.

So when it’s a game-time we don’t simply assemble. There is no fun in that right. We place the board in front of my home which is almost the road. It’s a small street so vehicles won’t come often but when it does, it’s a funny story altogether. We will lift the board as it is to another location without disturbing the positions of the coins.

Powder plays a very important role in the board game. We use baby powder because they make the board very smooth. We’ll sprinkle the powder all over the board but when the opponent is not looking we’ll rub off the powder in his side. That’ll make his striker slow and probably the chance of winning will be high for us.

We don’t actually use the board only to play carrom. It also plays a huge role while playing cards at times. We even play tops over it. Small tops, not the big ones.

Every summer is filled with too much happiness with the board in front of us. We play tournaments for the whole summer. There will be misunderstandings with friends and reunions after a while. Everything is a result of the game. The board has given so many memories for us to hold on.

What’s so special about the board is that it has seen almost my whole childhood. Because the board has been a constant game for us. It has seen my blood and tears. Blood, when the opponent friend got angry on me and threw the striker at me and nail, got broken and the board has seen my blood there. Tears, when my mom scolded me for wasting my time playing games all the time. The board is so special to me and of course special to everybody, in my street.

Now I see it in my garage, The lines are gone and the crack in the middle has gotten to the edge. But still, it is fresh with all the memories.

That’s our board and realized that it’s our childhood too.

Every little moment we cherished together with the board comes to me like a flash of thoughts. The board has again seen my tears but this time filled with joy and love.

The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by.

Alek Wek