Pagade Game memories

The Law Courts and our house were just 200 metres apart. My grandfather would return from his court work for lunch.  If there was a case or hearing he would go back and attend, at the most, for an hour. Otherwise, he would take a short nap, post lunch.  Around half past three or four, it was time for a couple of games of Pagade ( ಪಗಡೆ ).  A straw mat would be rolled out in the room in readiness.  The first game [match] would be played between my grandfather and grandmother.  For the second, my aunt replaced my grandmother.  Some games would end up in nail-biters providing great thrill for all.  The one who rolled the right numbers on the dice and moved the right pawns at the right time would win while tactics contributed, with occasional ideas coming from onlookers.  The game of Pagade involves skillful strategies.  

Those were the halcyon days - these memories are from the 60s till my grandfather's death in 1976. The two games would together last for about three quarters of an hour, during which time, my grandfather would also mention an old anecdote or two in between.

On school holidays I got a chance to witness the games which I did with great excitement. Sometimes I found pleasure to make the pawn moves on their behalf.  They would even allow an occasion roll of dice by me also.  I played with my aunt or brother after those two main games occasionally.  I used to try and imitate my grandfather's unique style of rolling the dices, but instead they either slid without rolling much or went totally awry.  Utter failure.  At times the players would pray for a required number to be rolled to suit the situation and often it was flop.  They were not 'Shakuni's dices', but they were on a stray occasion now and then, much to the excitement!  It was great fun. 

After the games, my grandfather would return to his desk to study a case or sit outside on the built-benches to read some book.  The shadows of the opposite house coconut trees fell on our west-facing front yard thus favouring the place for relaxing or reading.  My grandmother after her game would return to the kitchen to prepare coffee [tea was rarely prepared in those days at home] and the evening snack, after which my grandfather would ready himself to leave for his office at Gandhi Square at sharp 5 pm every day [by bus].  Even half a century later people who have seen this routine of his - keeping up time - recall it today! 

In Kannada it is Pagade ( ಪಗಡೆ ) and in Hindi it is 'Pachisi', known to have been invented around 4th century.  If our National Sport is Hockey, Pagade is a National Board Game. 

How the game is played, see this link: Pagade Game.  

In short: Each player has a set of pawns that start in his or her corner of the board. The goal is to move the pawns around the board to the "home" section. Movement is controlled by dice. All players move around the same board, so they may capture each others pawns. Captured pawns are returned to their player's corner and must start their journey all over again. The winner is the first player to move all pawns "home".

Mysore is home to a host of traditional board games.  It may not be out of place to mention that it was Mysore's 22nd Ruler, Krishna Raja Wadiyar III [Mummadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar, reign - 1799-1868] who was a master of board games and a great connoisseur.  This great King even has the credit of inventing a few board games also.

With time, the enthusiasm for playing this beautiful game of Pagade waned for lack of will more than anything.  For a few years after my grandfather died, we continued to play it among other games esp. during the Summer Vacations to school.  The game set of cloth board, pawns and dice hardly got to see the light out of its box except adding more antiquity.  

The Pagade 'board' made of cloth - crochet work - which must be more than 60 years old. I know not who made this.  Very durable! 
Arranged above is the position of the pawns for the start. 

Wooden pawns and Ivory dices. Already antiqued from the time of my memory. The reds are replacements of lost ones!

Ivory dices, clearly at least about 80 years vintage. 

The etched markings had to be re-marked at least twice after re-etching and filling with some colour [by me]. They wore out from being rolled on the straw mat hundreds of times over the years!  Even the beautifully woven mat [thin reeds] used for this wore out to the hilt at the two places - actually holes - where opponents rolled them.  It had to be replaced!! 

Will there be an enthusiastic revival in this so called 'fast moving times'? 

Diaries of my great grandfather

My great grandfather Mylar Rao was born in 1868.  In all probabilities his schooling would have been in Mysore itself going by one pencil rough draft he had made in the 1890s for an application for a govt. job where he introduces himself saying that his father was 'in Mysore Council Service'.

It was the British era when the standard of education was high class. The positive British influence reflected at jobs people held.  Thanks also to our Mysore Maharajas several dedicated teachers from Britain were employed.  Discipline, good habits, sincerity and hard work were inculcated in schools but they also came from within the families, almost naturally.  Among the many 'good habits' was 'diary writing'.  Mylar Rao had fairly regularly kept up this practice almost right through, but was inconsistent towards his end in 1936.

This post is about just some of the entries he had made in them.
Where did I find these 18-20 diaries?

My grandfather, renting the ancestral house, moved to another in 1950.  Among the several old pieces of furniture was one wooden almirah, said to be full of 'unwanted' stuff.  It had been kept in a passage that was the staircase room which led to the space [rented] upstairs. My curiosity in the late 70s led me to open and investigate the contents of this almirah.  The black-painted doors were stuck with dust.  I force-opened, alert to the chance of cockroaches flying out! Luckily none, but only dead specimens, as if trapped in.  Books, papers, diaries, account books and letter correspondence - this was my actual interest for the old postage stamps - lay there!  Most of them were from Mylar Rao's lifetime.

[I used it for many years and this is how it looked upon painting.]

After a thorough dusting and screening, I segregated the items that were interesting and worth further preservation.  It was only in more recent years that I found Mylar Rao's diaries had some beautiful [copied] quotes, some incidents, his activities at work, his brief daily routine and some amusing self-instructions and admonishments. The oldest diary is from 1898 when he was 30 years old.  The little diaries and his handwriting are beauties in their own right.
Let me pick up a few pages that I found interesting.

Mylar Rao was working in various positions like Munsiff, Asst. Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner in the towns in and around Mysore between 1898 and 1926 [retirement].

Click on the images for readable view.  

"My conduct on the bench was rather regretable, caused partly by the unpreparedness of the lawyers and partly by my anxiety to turn out more work than it seems possible for me.  Story of miracles we should not possess a gift of which we do not know the right use." 

Left page of next day: "Conduct satisfactory. Strength of will can work miracles.  Cultivate it. Many people discontinue reading after they enter in to life.  I am one of them.  I should hereafter make it a point to devote at least a few hours every day in reading something."

Left page: "Mr. Shama Rao's arrival.  So far as manners, I am becoming a little rude.  I should not be so.  I must mend them and be more hospitable.  Supper at Mr. Krishna Rao's.  Work hard. Do not waste time."
Right page: "My boy is very delicate.  A blow yesterday made him make water.  I feel troubled nowadays at slight circumstances.  Do not know the reason why.  Have not finished arrears of work.  Must be more sharp in writing out judgments."

"Sorry that my behaviour in court was not as it ought to have been.  I was rather narrow-minded. There is no use of losing one's temper for the wickedness of others.  An opportunity must be waited and the lesson taught. Why should there be any more pa.... "

"Beware of borrowing things from others.  Had a fall from Cheluva Iyengar's machine.  The brake was a little bent."  [Machine = Bicycle]

"5.30 am. Was very slow in my work.  After a record is read, it is always necessary to take some time to consider the points to be prominently set forth in the judgment and arrange them.  My hurry has to some extent been the cause of my slackness.  Obligations make one a slave."

"Be slow to place yourself under the obligations of another person.  If possible, never place yourself in that position."

Death of his servant Puttappa is felt.  ".... faithful and an obedient servant, never failing in his duty, character found wanting in many a so called educated man."

May 1899.

"Rode on the bicycle from here to Bankipur and back again.  Owing to my rashness, I let the machine run into a pit, fell off it, and damaged two of the spokes.  Beware of running headlong." 

[They were all mud 'tracks' back then!]

Right page: "Entertained a new servant Nagappa by name.  Sudden illness and harshness of the throat, commencing at about 10 a.m." 

September, Nagappa dies.  He writes: "I am rather unfortunate in my cooks. Both of them were good people and both died.  God bless their souls."

This was printed at Krishna Vilas Press here.

May 1900... he writes "Must have a time-table and must work according to it.  Every night half an hour for Kanarese reading and another half an hour general reading.  Morning one hour for professional studies and the remainder for writing judgment. This seems to be a fair regulation of work.  May I be helped to continue this kind of work." 

He probably could not, as there are many blank pages! 

On the left page he regrets having left the 'shed' [may be he was renting it during his job outside Mysore] and on the right, he realzes..."My conduct in leaving the sheds where I was so comfortable and had such excellent company seems inexplicable.  The whole of this day my mind was disturbed.  Many a time did it strike me why I should not go back to the sheds and be as happy as ever.  Blessed be the Dr."

Left page: "Morning spent in cycling.  Afternoon wasted in idle work. Wrote to brother regarding the Upanayana of the boy.  Mother's wish must be respected.  A man can have only one person who can be called by that name."

Left page: "Went out shooting in the morning. Crocodile in the river. Duck - Bagged nothing after all.  Felt exhausted in the afternoon. Had a good nap."
Right page:  It is the last page - December 31, 1900:  ".... The apparent natural inclination of all people seems to be to utter a falsehood in all cases in which they think that the speaking of truth is against their interest in some way or other. Good bye to the 19th century."

Shooting?  I did not know that! And what a fuss the world made with "Y2K" - Year 2000!  The end of the 19th century passed just like any other day!

1917 diary. 

In his official capacity Mylar Rao was accompanying the 'guests' to the "Kheddas" - a method they used to trap wild elephants in the forests for taming them - and shooting trips.

Left page: "The Gaekwar went bison shooting today and bagged a good one in no time.  Very lucky."
Right page: "In the evening, we walked up to the Chirakulli Hill from where we were able to have a good view of the surrounding country.  It was one of the signal stations and by means of the telescope kept there, the temple and the bungalow on the Chamundi [hill] were clearly visible.  Excitement on account of a wild baby elephant coming away to camp." 

[There are some pictures of the Kheddas of those times in our album.]

Left page: "Traveled from Budipadaga back to Mysore.  Excitement in camp owing to a wild tusker having come to the crawl.  Yesterday the Maharaja shot a tusker and today the Maharani who was unsuccessful in the jungle where she had gone shot in the crawl the tusker which was giving a lot of trouble.  Piety among the educated is at a low point."

Right page: "H.H.'s guest Mr. Oomabhai was shewn the Sandal Oil Factory, the Jagan Mohan Palace and the Garage in the morning. In the afternoon, he was taken to Seringapatam and Krishnaraja Sagara. H.H. returned from Budipadaga this day." 

[Garage = the Palace Garage where the fleet of Royal Cars were kept.]

His diary writing had become irregular at times and there were a few blank ones  pages of which he used for copying small portions of articles esp. from newspapers [The Hindu] that interested him. This he did after he retired in 1926, but never failed to write his family account, which will be in a separate post.

In fact, I did try to imitate this type of diary and account writing for a few years.