I was flying back to my workplace to Jhapa last week. It was fascinating to see foreigners at the domestic terminal of the airport, especially after the COVID situation. It’s an indication that our tourism sector is making a comeback after the corona crisis.
I am not a kind of guy who doesn’t hesitate to talk to the strangers. But when I saw a foreign guy taking out pieces of our ancient boardgame ‘Baghchal’ from his rucksack, I was tempted to start a conversation with him. While I had played the game with stone pieces on lines drawn on mud, it was interesting to see the real brass pieces of ‘tiger’ and ‘goat’ on an antique wodden board. He might have bought that at some vendor at Basantapur Dabali or somewhere in Thamel.
Seeing him lining up ‘goat’ pieces on the board as if he was playing chess, I was sure he knows nothing about ‘Baghchal’. Then I decided to intervene, “Can I play with you?”
To him, it was a challenge from a random Nepali guy. But without being surprised or even hesitated he replied, “Sure! But you will have to teach me.”
The conversation between the two strangers had already begun. All I had to do was just to keep going with the flow. “I will play ‘goat’ and you take ‘tiger’ pieces,” I said. Teaching him the basics, I told him that the goal of ‘tiger’ is to ‘eat’ at least 5 ‘goats’ by jumping a step on it; and the aim of ‘goat’ is to trap the tiger, leaving no points to move.
I started laying up my trap for the ‘tiger’ by putting the ‘goat’ pieces one by one on the board. While doing that I was also giving him somes tips on playing the ‘tiger’ pieces. Since he was playing for the first time, he kept making bad moves — leaving the corners. When I was just three steps behind to end his game, Buddha Air announced the boarding for Pokhara. His team guide came and interrupted our game. It seems they didn’t have patience even to wait while I made three more moves.
Heeding to his team guide, the stranger friend of mine put back the board and pieces into his rucksack. Although I was desperate on ending the game, I thanked him, “It was a pleasure playing with you.” He resonated back in a similar gesture. In the hassle of boarding, I forgot to ask the name of my stranger playingmate.
After his flight, the display-board showed that it was my time for boarding. On my flight to Jhapa, I kept pondering, “Is it possible to meet my stranger playingmate again so that I can finish my game?”
(I know Zuckerberg has created a virtual world where nothing is impossible. This might not really be a serious matter to say a ‘Help Post’; but guys, if you know him, please help me connect to him so that we can finish the game.)
