“Ahhh....!” A unanimous squeal of disapproval and disappointment followed by giggling from five of them sitting in a rough circle startles the silent lane. We obviously were making fools of ourselves again. All four slit tamarind seeds have landed flat and lie scattered in four different directions. We were not supposed to toss them like dice in the game of Ludo. Halamma is quick to step in and demonstrate the right technique. She asks us to watch closely as she gathers and flicks the seeds with a quick, gentle twist of her wrist, somewhat like a leg spin bowler’s googly.
This time they land in expected asymmetry, some with their flat, ivory bellies showing. Depending on how many are sitting belly up Halamma will move her pawn – a piece of broken, bottle-green glass bangle. “Ek girta hai toh ek, do girta hai toh do, teen girta hai toh teen, chaar girta hai toh chaar [If one seed turns up, you move one square. If two, you move two squares and so on],” she explains. She switches to broken Hindi in yet another effort at explaining the game to the two novice outsiders, who know little or no Kannada. She moves ‘our’ piece on the painted grids and skilfully tosses the tamarind seeds once again. It is her turn.





