Games, conversation and laughter ensure that we wait, hopeful, that the new world that will arise will be kinder than the old, more tolerant than the one left behind, inclusive and equal. Noon for its traditional avatar sitting cross-legged on the floor, night for a digital version with her granddaughters spread across locations and time zones. Since we are three players playing a game meant for four, the players places need to be considered carefully after a lot of permutations.Ī place next to another player and you can kill him or her easily (imperative for you to proceed to finish the game).Ī place next to an empty space diminishes your chances, so there is a constant vying to be near to the next player. Smaller shells result in ashta easily, while bigger ones help one throw chamma, according to game lore. The cowrie shells need to be of equal shape, and since we have them in many combinations, care is taken to ensure that they are of similar shapes.

Of other similar games that were the rites of childhood, just a generation ago.įor the sake of discipline, we stick to three games at noon, which last an hour. Of the cloth versions popular during my mothers childhood days. Of games played in the crowded village alleys, when my grandmother was a child, where they were etched on the floor of the village temple. Some are chipped while others are missing, resulting in a comforting mishmash of the old and new, the original and the substitute.Īlong with the nostalgia, they also bring with them the treasure of stories. The players, made from glass, came from my grandmothers set, bought on a trip to Srirangam in Tamil Nadu. Made from colorful beads that are no longer available, it is torn, delicate and beautiful. The set was stitched by my paternal grandmother in her teens in the 1950s. They were followed by old journals, full of rumblings and ramblings of teenage angst.īroken toys, unwanted utensils and keepsakes kept tumbling on till we stumbled upon a priceless artefact: a fragile and fraying set of ashta chamma, the Telugu version of the popular game Ludo. The depths of the attic were combed and first emerged old magazines and comics.

Ashta chamma game rules in telugu