I am currently reading a book by Ruskin Bond, and somewhere in the book, there was a mention of David Copperfield, the novel by Charles Dickens.
Now, while thinking about the novel, my mind took me to David Copperfield, the famous magician and illusionist. His real name s David Seth Kotkin, and he chose David Copperfield as his stage name simply because he liked the way the name sounded.
And while thinking about the magician, I was reminded of a computer game called David Copperfield Magic, which used to be quite popular in the early 2000s. I remember having it on my PC, and it was one of those tricks that could leave someone completely amazed...but not for long!
The game was quite simple. It would display a set of cards, probably six, or maybe seven, and ask you to select one of them. You didn't have to click on anything or tell the computer which card you had selected. The claim was that David Copperfield would read your mind - through the PC - and remove the very card you had chosen!!
And sure enough, when the next set of cards appeared, your card would be missing!
People used to be amazed...even shocked. Of course, sooner or later, most people figured out the trick. The game wasn't actually identifying and removing your card. It was replacing all the cards with a completely different set. Since the cards were all jacks, queens and kings - 'photo cards' as we used to call them - most people wouldn't notice that every card had changed. They would only look for the card they had selected, find it missing, and be convinced that the computer had somehow read their mind!!
Now, thinking about this card trick reminded me of another incident, this time from my childhood.
I must have been in Class VII or VIII, though I don't remember exactly. I was visiting my cousins in Patna, where one of my aunts (bua) used to live in Nageshwar Colony. We were a bunch of kids, and although we were strictly prohibited from playing cards - especially for money - we would occasionally play Flush (also called Teen Patti or Flash), which was (and still is) a popular card game.
The stakes were hardly anything, maybe fifty paise or a rupee at most. The idea was more to have fun than to make any money.
During the game, I thought of playing a little trick on my cousins. Now, when I look back, I realize that it wasn't really a trick. It was cheating, although at that age I probably thought of it more as a prank.
What I did was put together a few strong combinations of three cards each and hide them behind me. I was careful not to make the combinations too strong (nothing like three aces or any other trail) or too obvious, because that could raise suspicion. I do not recall but probably I kept aside a sequence (not pure sequence), a flush (cards of same color/suit) and a strong pair. The idea was to have a few combinations that could help me win without making anyone suspicious.
My plan was simple. If the cards dealt to me weren't good enough, I would secretly swap them with one of the combinations I had hidden behind me.
But then something rather interesting happened.
For the next three or four rounds, I was dealt genuinely strong cards. I didn't have to replace the cards, and I ended up winning all those rounds! I was quite happy with my small winnings but I started getting a little anxious and nervous.
Right then, one of my cousins - probably jealous of my winning streak - decided to count the cards in the deck. This cousin has featured in my earlier blogs (The Real Darr Was Outside the Theatre and Three Cousins, Old Monk and One Unmovable Wall)
And that made me even more nervous. I had not actually used any of the cards I had hidden, but I knew that NO ONE would buy that. I was about to get caught for cheating when I had not even started cheating!!
Sure enough, the count revealed that some cards were missing. An 'Interpol-level' manhunt followed, and the missing cards were discovered right under my bum!
I was caught!
Of course, there was no serious fight or anything of that sort. We were all kids, and although I was accused of cheating, there was also a lot of laughter. But the punishment was immediate. All the money I had won over those three or four rounds was taken away from me.
I objected. It was overruled. However, the commotion in the room reached the ears of the elders, and the real judge, Her Excellency Manju Bua, barged into the room, gave us an earful. I still clearly remember "Tum log yahaan juaa khel rehe ho!!??!!". She made it sound so scandalous, as if we were running a casino or some sort of Matka racket!
She of course took away all the money! The elders must have had an extra samosa that day!
And....somehow, for no reason that I can think of...I lost the popularity vote among my cousins!
The funny part is that I hadn't actually cheated in any of those rounds. I had won fair and square, but because I had planned to cheat, I lost all my winnings. Fair enough!
The money wasn't much anyway. Whatever little we had was usually pooled together and spent on renting movies, buying snacks or cold drinks. So it didn't really matter.
But I did learn a lesson. Sometimes, even the intention to cheat can get you into trouble.
Now, coming back to where I started, what I find interesting is how my mind wandered through all these thoughts in just a few minutes.
I was simply reading a book by Ruskin Bond. A mention of Charles Dickens reminded me of David Copperfield, the novel. The novel reminded me of David Copperfield, the magician. The magician reminded me of that old computer game, David Copperfield Magic. The game reminded me of card tricks, and from there, my mind travelled all the way back to a childhood afternoon in Patna, playing Flush with my cousins and getting caught for something I had planned to do but never actually did.
And all of this happened in perhaps five or seven minutes, maybe even less!
I realize that this is one of the reasons why I have started enjoying reading books more these days. I am a slow reader, partly because my mind keeps wandering. A word or a passing reference can remind me of a person, a place or some long-forgotten incident. But I have started enjoying these little distractions. They make the reading experience much more enjoyable.
For me, reading is not just about finishing a book. It is also about the thoughts it generates or the memories it brings back. Sometimes, just a few lines can take you back several decades, reminding you of people, places and incidents you haven't thought about in years.
All while sitting in one place, with a book in your hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment