Two can play!

Tit for tat!
Tick, tack, toe!
Scrabble!

Ever wondered how these seemingly innocuous games instill a sense of stiff competition amongst us? At 5, I barely knew what 'outdoing your competitor' meant. But somehow, my daily pastime of playing mundane indoor games, apart from the usual outdoor ones, made me realise the first lesson in life- There's only one place at the top. And everyone is in the race.

Prima facie, I wonder what a terrible thing it was for these table plays to spoil and corrupt young minds. How could anything make a toddler aware of the detestable facts of life? Wasn't it a crime to manipulate a child's psyche and make him think of the 'big, bad world' at such a premature age?

On second thoughts, the induction into the rigmaroles of life has to start at an early stage. If you make a kid believe that the world is all good and that people are there to help you, the child may face gargantuan adjustment issues at a later stage. The make-believe world is a dangerous concept. We have the liberty to dream of fish flying, without realising that all practical knowledge indicate otherwise.

I presume every li'l act, every li'l preaching and every li'l advice is meant to make us that tad bit better at facing the non-conducive situations in life. Tragic as it may seem, my post here would also be categorised as one of those didactic sermons at making you realise the shady intricacies of life.

They say, "Learn from your own mistakes." I wish we could. I wish we were untold those sayings. I wish we never played those competitive games. I wish we played to be on the same team. I wish our only competitor was competition.

But things will go on, as they always do. And I know this is what nurturing demands. If I had my way, I'd go back a decade or more and play those games all over again. Only this time, the rules would be completely different.