The Game of Housie

Come April and our family gets ready for our annual pilgrimage. Like most of us, my place of birth and our ancestral village are different. It's the time when we have the opportunity to touch our roots and return back. 

I always look forward to this opportunity of visiting the little village in the south coastal region of Karnataka. Our home is situated in the middle of the farms, with a well, a cowshed, et all. It's a fabulous experience. 

This year, the Puja to be performed in the village temple was a once in 12 years Event and hence our whole family, some 14 of us had gathered. 

We living in the city, with the support of mobile, televisions, computers, iPads, do not know what to do with the time when all these supports are removed. As we sat in the verandah of our village home, doing nothing, Hrishant, my 12 year old son, suddenly came up with a box from his baggage. As we grew curious about what might be 

inside this box, he opened it to reveal the game of Housie! 

As you know, this game of Housie (or Tambola) is typically played in kitty parties or when a group of ladies gather for some reason or the other. I always thought that it was a girlie game and had never attempted to be a part of it. 

Variations of Housie : The simple game of Housie  includes three lines (Top, Middle, Bottom) and two or three Full Houses. You can bring in some fun with these variations like..

 

Fastest five - One who cuts the five numbers in a ticket first.

Fastest seven - One who cuts the seven numbers in a ticket first. 

King's corner - the first number in each line (in the above ticket 5,28,6)

Queen's corner - The last number in each line (in the above ticket 80,77,82)

Four Corners - The 4 corner numbers of the ticket (in the above ticket 5, 6, 82, 80)

Lines can be called twice.

Number of Full Houses can be increased.

It typically has a Coordinator who calls out the numbers and the players who participate and test their luck.

With a recently fractured hand, I was the natural Coordinator and all other 13 were playing, children, young ones, seniors, et all. 

As I started calling out the numbers drawn randomly from a packet of numbers, comments started flowing along with some interesting cries like 'Yess', 'ohh', 'oh no', 'my god'. Jumping, clapping, laughing, teasing  as someone reached the 'first five' first, the 'Kings Corner' first, and so on.

As the game went on, I realised that, I who was conducting the game was doing the things mechanically while the participants were having the time of their life! 

Also, the fact came to light that though I was withdrawing the numbers and placing them on my card, which had all the numbers in series, unlike the players cards which had only selected numbers in their individual card, the chances of the players completing their first row, four corners, were much more than I completing them on my sheet. 

After about half an hour, the game was completed with the winners in ecstasy and the losers cursing their luck but each one of them happy. The only one sulking was me! 

As I contemplate, I compare this Event with some similar experiences in life. 

We go to a movie, enjoy it and than feel jealous of the glamorous life of the Stars and Directors of the film.

We go to a Restaurant and think how lucky are the management who can saviour the Restaurant food daily. 

We pass a Mercedes Showroom and think how the owner of the place must be riding a brand new latest model Merc each day. 

But, maybe, like the coordinator of the Housie  game, these people are more than sweating it out  in bringing the Product on our table  while it is we who enjoy the maximum out of it. 

'Uneasy lies the head which wears the crown'. 

A perfect phrase to describe the situation. While everyone thinks the King is the most luckiest person to sit at the citadel it's actually the subjects who are having the time of their life and the poor king is engaged in responsibilities!