The board game Scrabble came into my life long ago when I was in college. Father had gone to visit my married sister and there he had fallen in love with the game which my brother-in-law introduced to him. My brother-in-law gifted him his own set—an original British one with sleek wooden tiles.
I began to love the game as much as father did and we would both eagerly look forward to our daily “match” in the evenings. Usually we played two games back to back where we won a game each. Father used to be pleased as punch when he won but he was even more pleased when he lost! “I’ve been trounced!” he would say happily, grinning from ear to ear. He used to say that being beaten by one’s child was more satisfying than winning. When I married and left home, poor father had no one to play with. However, whenever I came home, he would pull out the board and we would happily settle down to play. Since I was on holiday and he was retired, we were both free to play at any time and there were days when we had Scrabble “tournaments” throughout the day!
After father passed away, I missed playing Scrabble with him. No other person has played with pure enjoyment. Both of us played for fun and winning was not the main issue. We used to constantly tease each other while playing, pretending that the other was cheating or was purposely playing badly to allow the opponent to achieve a “much-needed” victory.
And one day, my son downloaded the game on my PC and I discovered the pleasure of the game all over again! When father and I played, we would usually applaud each other’s good moves which brought high scores or created several words at one stroke. The computer did the same! Blinking lights and clapping sounds greeted me every time I got a triple or double word score. Father’s framed photograph hangs on the wall over my PC and at such times, I would look up at him and find him smiling. It was just like old times.
One advantage of playing against the computer is that you don’t have to wait for your opponent to make a move. As soon as you finish your turn, it calculates your score and then plays its turn all in a second! When playing with father I used to take my knitting along and I could knit about two rows while waiting for him to play his turn. I knitted several sweaters during my holidays while playing Scrabble! Today, I play Scrabble endlessly on my smartphone and I just have to look at father’s photo to see him smiling and apparently enjoying the game as much as I do.
Email: pragati.16017@gmail.com