By Wg. Cdr. V. B. Purang, [ Thursday, May 03, 2006  ]

As I was about take the shot, a mobile phone came alive. From the tone I could make out that it was Vijay's. A voice called out, "Vijay, is it your girl friend". This was from Rao, who was seated on the sofa meant for spectators having played his turn. Vijay, in his late seventies took the complement with a sheepish smile, his eyes glowing naughtily.

Our group consisted of six including the three of us mentioned earlier who made it to the club almost every afternoon. Usually we played "Russian Pool" on the center table of the Billiards room. Russian pool is a versatile version of Billiards. It has all the shots of Billiard and Snooker. The element of penalty, which ensured 'Wash out' of all points scored during the visit if a foul was committed, made it more interesting. This was in addition to plus 21 or minus 21 if red ball was played. In addition, to have an element of challenge we had introduced the nomination of shots.

As a token of respect to our age and knowing our routine, most members of the club did not disturb us for making a claim for the game till around 5.30. p.m. The session included a round of tea and biscuits and a whole lot of light and sometimes not-so-light interaction with subjects ranging from Amitabh to Advani, Bush to Mush and Sachin to Sania to Sonia.

‘What an easy position he has got yaar!’ one of us would say sometimes, when the opponent had red in playable but not in a sure shot or easy scoring position. This was to egg him on to play and miss it, earning a penalty of 21 points in the process. On most occasions he would fall for the trap, much to everyone’s delight.

Rajan had a habit of standing opposite the ball he wanted his partner to play. Others tried other crude ways to try and hint the shot they wanted the partner to play, as selection of the right shot was of utmost importance in this version of the game. "It so happened that earlier, there being no restrictions, the two partners of a team would try to discuss the intricacies of a shot before one finally played. This usually resulted in delays. In order to cut the same, we decided that the partner would not advice as to which and how a shot be played". We derived entertainment from aforesaid actions and from the post-shot fireworks between the partners.

'Here comes Vimal', I could hear as I entered the Billiard hall. I had got delayed, as I had to see a friend off at airport. Such was the motivation for the session that most of us would make it in time. It was also an unwritten law that whenever any of us reached, the game would be restarted, after including him.

The bonhomie amongst the members of the gang and the interest in the game which took away all the tension resulted in some of us saying, "had a good fun" when we departed at the end of the day. Over the years it has become a craze for us to head towards Billiards room day after day.

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