'e' vs. me!

The world is going electronic with a capital 'E' (the caps is jus to 'e'mphasize the 'e'mergence of this trend. Otherwise we write it small)!! And every word in 'E'nglish is scrambling to get the coveted letter b4 itself. We have e-mail, e-shopping, e-cards, e-books...and some 'e- ' words not suitable to be listed here :)

In between all this melee are 'e-games'. U name the real thing and there is an e-game for it in cyberspace! From chess to scrabble to tetris and even the humble tic tac toe! No, no don't get me wrong!! I'm not against computer games. I've had my share of playing Solitaire and many other games on the comp and I even agree that some of these are easier played on the comp (wat with the strength indicator and direction pointer in yahoo pool!).

Even so I cannot forget my childhood summer and diwali vacations at granny's place. Seated on the house terrace in the afternoons with a jug of homemade lemonade and a bowl of popcorns (not microwaved!) we matched wits on chess or scrabble or wooed lady luck at blackjack or rummy.

I still remember the squeals of excitement at climbing a ladder in snakes & ladders or reaching HOME in ludo and the cries of dismay at becoming bankrupt or landing in jail at monopoly. It was a different feeling to hold the dice in your hands and give them a good hard shake b4 casting them. The click of a mouse to cast dice in an e-game is not the same. Same goes for shuffling cards (its fun to show off if u r a deft shuffler!)

The disparity doesn't stop here. Sure its easier to keep time in e-chess but there its just u vs. the computer or a faceless unknown person. It lacks the enthusiasm that a band of cheering supporting cousins can offer and also the criticism and jeering that the opponent's supporters give. When we played chess it was never a one-to-one game. One 'real' game turned itself into a group game due to the sheer experience touching the pieces before u moved them. Dont think I'm violent will u...but i cant describe the satisfaction of 'knocking' off the opponent's knight (or any other chess piece) when u captured it!

It wasn't only the thrill of winning or the fun of playing with friends or cousins. The cheating in card games and the sulking when losing a game and abandoning it was also unique. There were moments of extreme frustration when someone overturned the carrom board or tore away the tic tac toe paperbcos defeat was too much for them! But they serve to support my stance!!

And my stance here is it is not always profitable to add an 'e' to everything. Some things are best enjoyed the way they are!! Sit for a game of dumb charades or trivia with ur family once and u'll kno wat i mean. Btw did i mention that the winner's prize was almost always a nice chocolatey Cornetto or a large bar of Fruit & Nut??