When the Temple Was a Walk Away

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A five-minute walk required so little thought. I could simply step out. In Malleswaram, a friend turning up at our house in the evening usually meant we were going for a walk. A couple of friends from school or college would come over, and we would head to the nearby Hanuman temple. Afterward, we would stop at the railway station to watch the trains go by, talking, pulling each other’s legs, and figuring out where to get our next plate of bhel or masala puri. Uncomplicated. Even on days when nobody came, I would take the walk to the temple. There would inevitably be a few familiar faces to greet. Then I would lay out a plan with Hanuman so that he could help me figure out whatever was worrying me. A lab exam, a semester exam, a job interview. There was usually something coming up that required his attention. It was comforting to put everything before him. I could tell him what was on ...

Ping-Pong: Not all that easy

As we spent our time waiting in long queues in the amusement park in Kansas City, Ashwin came up with an interesting game. It is called as ping-pong. The name can be quite misleading as it does not involve ping pong balls and racquets. The game play is as follows. All of them form a circle, and each of them choses a country of his choice. One person starts with a ping, the next one follows with a pong, and the third one has to call out a country chosen by anyone in the group other than his own. The next "ping" is called out by the person who has the name of the country previously called out. Any deviations from the above pattern results in the person being out of the game.

This might sound too simple but I assure you that it is not at all the case. Last night in a dinner party, we played this game, and as I explained the rules to the people present, there was this feeling What's so tough about this? But as we started to play the game, everyone realised that it is a lot of fun with unthinkable mistakes from the participants.

A neat party game and if you are in a big group waiting in a line, go for it and have fun!

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