SaAp SeEdY – Of HiSsInG n MoUnTiNg. Review on Snakes and Ladders

Most of us here are familiar with Sridevi dressed in white, writhing and wriggling in the classic song “Main teri dushman, dushman tu mera. Main naagin tu sapera” from the classic Nagina.(Amit, you HAVE to write a review on this one in your Great Indian Classics after superlative write up on Loha!;)

Somewhere you shave heard this classic dialogue too. "Tumne jisko doodh pilaya ma, woh aasteen ka saanp nikla!"

And it was a snake that got Adam and Eve chucked to Earth fromParadise.

Snakes always make me think of something nasty and evil. Something that looks so slimy can hardly be trustworthy. Add to that some of its species are poisonous to boot and I think all of em bite anyway.

Yet with all these “qualities” these reptiles play starring role in one of the most popular childhood games (that I still LOVE) called *Snakes and Ladders*. Of course here too Snakes are the villains, so no surprises there.

I tried googling the history of Snakes and Ladders but couldn’t come up with much. Wikipedia says that the western form of the game was invented in Victorian England possible by John Jacques and was apparently adapted from ancient Indian game Dasapada dating back to 2nd century BC. These claims however have not been verified.

Since not much is known about the history, cut to present or recent past or whatever and let me tell you what this game all about.

Snakes and Ladders is basically a board game played between two or more players with a block grid on the board. These blocks have numbers 1-100 on them. Some of these have a ladder or a snake on them. The intention is to reach to the topmost block saying 100, your starting point being One!

You roll the dice and move the pawn as per the number you get on the dice. If you get six you enjoy another turn. Yiippppeee! So all the players take turns rolling the dice and keep moving ahead. If you come on a block that has the beginning of ladder on it, you get a shortcut up the ladder. For eg. You reach 8 and it has ladder that reaches up to 23, you jump up to 23 in that same turn! Whatte fun!:p The same way some blocks have snake mouths on them. If you get into one of THOSE blocks then you slip down the slippery snake right to the block where the tail is, losing all the lead you might have gained!

So you basically keep on rolling the dice and keep moving up and down depending on your luck till you finally reach the century number 100!

The winning or losing depends on sheer dumb luck which is why I just love this game! If you are the type who is good at rolling dice and getting the number you want, you will not be wasting that precious talent trying it on Snakes and Ladders! Hehe!

Snakes and ladders is available almost everywhere – starting from local trains and streets in Mumbai to every toy shop worth its salt. It should cost you anywhere between 15bucks to maybe maximum of Rs.100 which will be one of those 5 in 1 kind of boards.

It’s difficult to NOT enjoy the game even today(a reflection on my IQ I guess!), but its sheer simplicity makes it so enjoyable just for a few real laughs and fake groans when you go down the snake!

It is usually a big hit with kids because it’s so easy to learn and can be played with lots of friends as long as you have those different coloured pawns to differentiate between players. If not anything else, they are sure to learn their numbers to 100 and to win and lose in turns.

This may sound farfetched, but isn’t our life a lot like Snakes Ladders too?WE roll the dice(do what we should) and then move. Sometimes it takes us to unexpectedly quick success… that elusive ladder we get. At times, a sudden fall because of circumstances… the snake that pushed you down. Most other times we just keep moving at our own pace without any major hurdles. Eventually we reach our destination through all the Snakes and Ladders and those plain blocks.

Of course, in our life luck plays a smaller role I guess, yet the similarity is uncanny, won’t you agree?

On a lighter note I wish I could dance like Sridevi in Nagina! Anyone game to play the music?!:p

Ps: for an obviously fun take on the game, read psyxx’s review on this one! Only HE can do it!:)

Pps: The title means nothing!It had been sometime since I had used a double entendre for my review!(which has a lot to do with the fact that I have not written anything in ages!) But then what the heck! What’s in a Title?! Title ke andar kya hai would be a bad literal translation!

Ok! I am gonna stop before this gets worse. Blame it on Bumpy hormones!:p Cheers!