Ludo - The Game and (or of) Life

Ludo - The game. What do you think of it?

I know there are people who swear by it. On the iOS AppStore the game Ludo King has 120k ratings (as on 11-Jul-2021) and Android Play Store has 500 MM+ downloads.?

I hate the game of Ludo.

My wife, though, she loves the game. On a dull Sunday summer afternoon, with the power gone and the ceiling fan droning on back-up power, she would excitedly bring out a wooden Ludo board and actually relish the sound of dice on wood, and the staccato of the coins counting squares progressed - cheering as she sent my coins back to Start and celebrating her coins reaching the Finish. ?

You see, I am the polar opposite of Shakuni Mama when it comes to luck with the roll of the dice. The probability of the numbers on the face of the dice favouring me is a very good example of Six Sigma - you may quote me on that. So you’d understand my despise of the colossally mindless waste of time, that I believe, the game of Ludo is.?

Now imagine my excitement when Netflix launched promos of a movie called Ludo. A mushroom growing on a forgotten log of wood deep in the forest would appear more excited than I was.?

But sure enough, my wife saw the movie. And she even recommend it to me. I wasn’t moved.?

Then I heard the song. Ooooo Beta ji. Arre O Babuji. Kismat ki hawa kabhi naram, kabhi garam. Kabhi naram, naram, Kabhi garam garam. Kabhi naram garam naram garam. (Have you seen Bhagwan Da move to the song in the 1951 movie Albela? - it’s a joy for the ages - in fact, multiple songs from the same movie are a favourite.) And Pankaj Tripathi moving to the rhythm of the song. I know that any movie with Pankaj Tripathi in it, is at least worth a watch. The rest of cast was also interesting -?Rajkumar Rao, Abhishek Bacchan, the Dangal duo - Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra. And to top it - directed by Anurag Basu.?

All this got me curious. But I’ve been once bitten, twice shy - Case in point the song Gulabo from the movie Shaandaar (cast included the talented father - son duo Pankaj and Shahid Kapoor) - Yes, I watched the movie because I liked the song (insert crying face emoji here).?

Then my colleagues from office also started talking and recommending the movie. Now a man can take only so much of peer pressure. I watched it on a weekend.

I am happy to report that I liked the movie very, very much. With a plot that weaved multiple story lines without losing track of any of them, combined with excellent and believable performances from all cast members, it was a joy to watch and a very entertaining movie. I’d strongly recommend the movie, if you haven’t already watched it.?

For me, the most memorable part of the movie were the two sutradhaars or narrators. In their commentary and discussions, the duo introduce the characters of the movie and various ideas related to the storyline. It was the two of them talking and?relating the game of Ludo to life that set me thinking and inspired me to talk about it in a speech at my Toastmasters Club and then putting this into a blog. For you.?

Let me explain

Life is like a game of Ludo. We are all like coins in the game. Each of us?have a beginning, a journey and an end. We all have different colors and each of us have our own path to the goal.

The journey is unique to every coin. Some sail through smoothly from start to end, while others stop at different safe spots along the way. There are some coins that are forced to go back to the start, … multiple times, in some instances. And I always had some coins that even failed to make a start. I’ll leave this part to you without further explanation, because I am sure you know your journey and where you are in it.?

While each coin’s future is decided by the throw of a dice, a seasoned player (like my wife) know that they can still make the most of each roll. They know when to move which coin, and how far. While we may believe ourselves to be at the mercy of fate and random events in life, we still hold the reins of our own lives. It is always up to us whether to pull out of that safe spot or to stay put.?We can decide to move in one direction or the other and how far.?

The most importantly lessons I learnt is that, in the end, all coins end up in the same box, irrespective of their color, their progress, their achievements, or lack of it. Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.?

We only see and experience our little board and interact with the coins in our box. However, there are millions of boards of Ludo in play at any point in time. One little coin from one board, can easily play the same game on any other board, anywhere, because the rules of the game remain the same. Even if you are lost in life, you can start a new game and find new friends wherever you are.?

All that gyaan from a movie!? Well, this is what happens when life surprises you with lessons hidden in places you least expect. Little did I know that I could learn so much from a game I despise so much.?

Yet, you will still be hard pressed to convince me to sit down to a game of Ludo.?

Do you have any other game in mind?