Kreeda gets called to the most fascinating of programs. We have conducted games for upanayanams (the sacred thread ceremony), for weddings in various occasions – the Mehendi, the Sangeet and even the Pandakal pooja (the pooja that initiates the wedding in the bride’s house). We have been called for family get-togethers, we’ve been called for birthday parties, but one of the most memorable invitations in my mind was when we were called by a prominent IT company in the city of Chennai.
Some of their customers were visiting and barely had 24 hours in the city. The senior team wanted to give them a little taste of Indian culture. So, in addition to organizing a wonderful Indian meal in the office, they also invited Kreeda to showcase and play a few games with them. It was a small group. Evidently, very senior people, about 15 or so. Armed with some of our games we went there. After a short introduction on games, we set out a few games on the boardroom table to play. It was impressive place, and it was a good feeling to have Kreeda there.
But I think the highlight of the event was when one of the senior team, completely suited and booted, picked up a bambaram, started laughing and remembering and reminiscing about playing with it as a child. He then proceeded to wind the cord round the bambaram and flicked it expertly to the floor of the board room. Not long after, all of them were standing around playing bambaram with as much glee as little children. It was truly a memorable moment, but not the first of what we have done with various corporate houses.
Kreeda has been invited by companies for family days, for entertaining visiting guests, partners, or shareholders, and even for team building exercises. One such case was where two teams of a prominent IT company were going to collaborate on a big project and Kreeda was meant to initiate team building activities. While many of these were interesting, memorable, and fascinating, for me, when I think corporate, I will always remember the inter-corporate competition Kreeda organized the year before COVID.
It was August and we had 24 corporate houses signed up in the lush green gardens of SPP Gardens, a venture of Hany Reddy Realty in Chennai. It was to be an all-day affair with a food truck and master of ceremonies to oversee the event. We had a cameraman who could project the game on the full screen so people could follow along, and the audience could see what was happening on different boards.
I woke up very early, with butterflies in my stomach as it was an unusual but important event for us, and lo and behold, all I saw was stormy skies. My heart was in my mouth. I had been working on this and planning this for 3 months now. It involved a lot of work ― contacting organizations and encouraging them to participate, preparing kits for them, training them so they were familiar with the games, putting a draw in place, planning competition rules, how the point system would work, what would be the prices etc. Too much had gone into it. But I was terrified. Not only were the rains heavy, but the location was also far away. I drove there with great trepidation, terrified that nobody would turn up, or worse, one or two teams would turn up and be completely disappointed in the whole affair.
But I was a lucky girl that day. All the 24 teams turned up. Not a single team missed the event. And by afternoon, a feeble sun broke out, allowing us to enjoy not just the covered location of our games, but the lawns as well.
The event was a roaring success, the excitement ran high. The humble game of Tamarind Seeds, which enjoyed blowing and picking seeds without disturbing the other, became the highlight of the event with two teams locked in combat to see who would pick the greater number of seeds. It was truly an incredible event, with excitement and screaming, and cheering. An event to remember.
The excitement that people felt in playing games at the corporate level got me thinking about many other aspects of Kreeda and traditional games. How relevant were they? Did board games have a place in the boardroom?
Ripples Of Life and Time 