Chess

It all started with Jo taking us to see the Queen of Katwe - a feel good Mira Niar biographic movie about Phiona - a child from the slums of Uganda who can't read but can kick some serious ass on the chess board. By the end of the movie, both Evan and Vivian were eager to learn the game.

At JFK airport, to keep them distracted during a particularly long check-in process at the Emirates counter, I got Vivian and Evan to start practicing basic moves using themselves as chess pieces and floor tiles for a chess board. There, are then again in Dubai airport, they learned how to hop like the knight over and around others, and slice in sharp diagonals like the bishop and lumber in straight lines like the castle. And the power of the queen and the delicate weakness of the king. By the time we landed at Suki's in Bangalore, they were thrilled to play on Adil's chess board.

Vivian likes to play chess. Evan obsesses about it. He bugged any waking and walking person at Suki's to play chess with him. Then we drive up to the resort at the coffee plantation in Coorg and right there in front is a beautiful black and white marble board with life size pieces.

On the first day at the resort Vivian and Evan had fun moving the pieces around. They settled down and started playing on Day Two. On Day Three it was mostly mayhem - killing anything at any cost. By Day Four, they were beginning to think about tactics. When I played Evan at San Francisco airport on the way back, he was using strategy.  

I remember playing chess with my parents when I was Vivian's age. And many a happy hour growing up with Alu with the board between us. I'm not expecting Grandmasters here - just a lot of fun playing a great game. Thanks, Phiona.

Oh, and Adil - if this lovely wooden board looks familiar, it's because Evan forgot to take it out of his backpack when we got back to Bangalore from Coorg. We'll ship one off to Majorca and Bangalore for you. Sorry.