"O"H MY GAME!!

“Start…………..…errr stop!!!! Tell me till which letter have you murmured?”, I asked my friend casually.

“Z”, my friend replied coyly.

“Hey! Don’t cheat with me. You can’t reach till Z so quickly”, I lashed out at her.

We would repeat the entire cycle and be more realistic in reciting the alphabets silently and then reveal the letter. Once we settled on the letter, the real game would begin.

“Start ……….….err stop!!!”, either of us would shout to signify that one had taken the lead over the other.

Can you guess which game I am talking about?

“Name, Place, Animal, Thing”

 

Courtesy : Google Images

Yes, a quick game which came to our rescue during childhood days either in the school bus stuck in the traffic jam or in the classes which disinterested us. To give an overview, the game revolved around drawing three vertical lines with column headers as 'Name,Place, Animal,Thing' on a middle page torn from the school notebook and creatively using the letter decided upon to fill the columns. The player who finished first could stop the other. Each entry out of four values would fetch 10 marks but the one which would be a match to the opponent’s would garner 0 points. So basically in order to win, the values had to be distinct and filled up in a jiffy which ultimately required thinking hats to unclog the cerebral activity.

It has been long since any of us actually played the game coaxing our brain to play its role better, i.e., being the master and not a slave of all that is being served.

In today’s era, one produces the Name only when boasting of lineage or somebody else’s rich ancestry.

Place, the exotic vacation location is only shared over social media to leave virtual world’s friends envious. However, the travel is completely kept under the wraps in real life.

Animals are either becoming extinct or evolving into two legged creatures.

Things are mentioned in aplenty but only if they are high-end and extravagant. Meager and useful things are omitted and left in silos.

Many of my friends complain of the world turning into a big-ticket stage with puppet performers morphing the game's rules. From what's in the name, it has turned to its all in the surname. From exotic locations it has transformed into a stationary chair placed in front of the laptop. Animals are dying but animal instincts are awakening. Money and happiness are hanging in the balance.

I rest my itchy fingers in the hope to play 'Name,Place,Animal,Thing' with obsolete rules that leave me nostalgic.

This is the 15th post in the series #AtoZChallenge.

This post is also for #BlogchatterA2Z ------> 'O'.