Chasing the Book. Chasing the Dream

It was exciting enough to go to Spain, but this time I needed to see the Book of Games. I reached out to the conference organisers, and I waited…

And I waited… and waited… but still nothing. When I asked, I was told that they were working on it. Patience is not my virtue. I tried reaching out directly, only to be met with a recorded IVR in Spanish.

I scoured my address book and contacts for any connection to Spain. Sadly, I found none. I contact people in the EU who might have access, but nothing seemed to work.

And then one day barely two weeks before departure, I got the answer. I could see the book and even get a chance to work with it. It was a dream come true.

What made this book so exciting? I have tried to find the answers. I have a translation of the book in English, complete with pictures and illustrations. I cannot not read Spanish, so seeing the original could add no value to me. Yet, it was something I have dreamed off for many years. Why?

I think the first reason is I am a bibliophile. I love books. I collect them and save them and care for them. When I sit in a room surrounded by books, I feel rich. This passion comes from my father who taught me that you could sit in one chair and travel the world by merely reading a book. It comes from my mother, who indulged us with books when we were children. I never got a no from her if I wanted a book. Space did not matter; storage did not matter.… if I wanted it, I got it.

It came from my grandmother who lived to the grand old age of 96, and whose eyesight was so poor we could not move the furniture in the house. Yet till the end, I would see her, nose barely an inch from the page, peering through her thick spectacles as she devoured one book after the other. I soon became her supplier, and she loved me for it.

So yes, I love books. But this was more than a book. It was a connection across the years. There is a certain excitement when a book reaches out to you across centuries. If I had lived then, I would probably not even know about the book or had an interest in it, let alone see it. Yet today about 800 years later this book forges a connection between Alfonso X of Castille and me – a bond that has transcended the barriers of space, time, background, country, language and culture.

I believe that traditional games have the power to do that, and this book echoes that sentiment. And so, the excitement about seeing the book.