Recently, a couple of French exchange students visiting us got addicted to the game of carrom, so we generously decided to gift them a set. Unfortunately we live about 8000 miles away from Meerut, the capital of carrom board-makers.

Here in Chicago, Indian grocery stores sell anything from agarbattis to Sachin-autographed cricket bats. However, compared to six different brands of ‘aam ras’ available, there’s only one kind of carrom equipment.

US sports stores sell carrom boards, but the game bears little resemblance to the one played in any community setting in India. The US variant uses a cue stick to push several rings into corner pockets. Worse, the board is designed to allow for a multitude of games including checkers and chess.

Though an archaeologically oriented detractor may tell you that a similar game was unearthed from an ancient Egyptian tomb, carrom was native to India and spread to nearby countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. With the Indian diaspora pining for anything desi, carrom exports have been rising.

I learnt carrom from my uncles when I was seven. Seated on the bare floor, we used our hands to move the striker across the somewhat rough terrain. Rules were thrown to the wind since thumbing wasn’t introduced to our game until much later. Using talcum powder as a lubricant instead of boric acid, we even coated varnish upon the veneer board to reduce friction!

I had never heard of carrom federations till I started playing in the IIT Mumbai hostel. Right across the mess-hall, this was played seated upon a stool, with light, easy-gliding carrom men and a heavy ivory striker.

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