Preparations

Visa applications are a nightmare. The amount of paperwork required sometimes borders on the ridiculous. But it had to be done, and it was done. Tickets, visas, hotels, logistics were all worked out and kept in readiness for the great day.

In the meanwhile, I had to figure out my presentation. What would I talk about? Given a chance I would have talked for the entire three days. I had enough to say, and I am sure my friends will attest to the fact that I had the capacity to do it.

Conference organisers are not very generous with time, so I had twenty minutes instead of three days. In that case the answer was clear.  Nine Men’s Morris or Dahdi as we knew it in India – the game referred to in the Book of Games and a link between India and Spain. Again, there was so much to say about the game, but I had to pare it down.

After sleepless nights tossing and turning and guilt equivalent to abandoning my child, I dropped some well-loved ideas and finalised on my subject and paper.

The logistics were organised. The paper was ready, but the person that I am, I needed more. Some drama, some fun, something to spice up the trip like a bit of mango pickle or a few drops of tobasco sauce.

I racked my brains to come up with an answer and finally the weather gave me the inspiration.  A few years ago, in an attempt to look at how traditional games could inspire art and design I teamed up with Lakshmi Srinath, a super talented artist and designer as well as someone who truly enjoyed my research on traditional games.

Lakshmi designed a fabulous collection of saris and accessories inspired by traditional games and their appearance in temples. I loved them and picked a up a couple. They became my uniform of sorts for all talks and presentations on games.

However, Spain was three days, and it promised to be hot. From my experience most of Europe embraced the heat and sunshine, but being a Madrasi myself, I shrank from it and shed buckets of perspiration if I went out in the sun. Saris were certainly not the best choice for this weather, especially if things were outdoor.

Lakshmi swung into action and designed a couple of cool cottony outfits to beat the heat but celebrating traditional games. They were perfect and I had something to spice up the preparations for the trip.  By now though, my creativity was in full flow. I would be happy with things one day but wake up the next morning with some new idea to incorporate.

The idea of visiting Madrid had me truly excited.