A Game Of Chess

Hey all! It feels good to be writing this post.  I usually prefer to write blogs only when I feel up to it. Now that can be put as being moody, but aren’t most of the creative people like that? Recently someone asked me when I would be putting up my next blog post and I guess that worked as a catalyst in pushing me towards this write-up which I had in my mind since a while.

On a vacation a few weeks ago, I tried my hand at playing chess. Honestly, I only had some hazy memories of the rules of this game which I learnt sometime in my teenage and thanks to my family I was soon having a merry time plotting player positions!

To win at a game like chess, one needs to have strategic skills and the ability to respond to chaos thrown at you. It is in fact a brilliantly intelligent game that engages the left side of your brain and pushes you towards logical thinking. But in the real world, ‘playing chess’ is often used as a metaphor for being cunning and having the drive to achieve goals at any cost while people who are good at being manipulative are referred to as being a pro at the game of chess.

CHESS- The Reality

Above all the negative aspects associated with this inherently smart game, is the fact that our lives, at least at some point in our life, turns into a chessboard. Well there’s a small difference here; the chessboard of your life won’t be governed by any rules!

It could be a promotion that you’ve been wanting, making your reputation in a community or something as simple as a college competition, there will be times when you will be surrounded by unexpected situations, ambiguity and masked faces that can put your into denial , depressive or aggressive modes. The harsh truth is that no matter how strongly you stick to your ideals, you’ll be forced to play this game- if not as a player who attacks then definitely as a victim trying to protect yourself.

“Your best teacher is your last mistake”

This popular quote by the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam politely suggests that your senses should be receptive to what’s happening around and your mind should be strong enough to process and retain the results. Ideally, being cunning is bad. But in today’s world that is ruled by materialistic value systems and goals that can enslave souls, being naïve is worse! 

Back to my holiday game

Well I played chess after years and my opponents weren’t so experienced either, so it was indeed a fun game, where we were more concerned about protecting our own players than reaching the King on the other side and laughing each time we lost a soldier!

As you make special memories with your dear ones, you realize that there’s something more valuable than every goal and game and that- is LOVE!

I hope you liked my write-up. Do send me your feedback!

Love,
Bhavs