i hope u rem satpal frm kota.....
well he's now at iit kanpur and dabba khel is his
contribution to the world of competitive games.
the story goes that when the 1st year began at iitk,
satpal like all other freshmen was asked to
"introduce" himself to the seniors (this is the cheap
substitute for ragging tht seniors everywhere have
managhed to come up with ever since the governing
bodies of many colleges made ragging illegal).
As is customary, he was asked for the introduction in
a single language, and he droned on about being in the
"vidyut abhiyantriki vibhag (electrical engineering
department)" and his "chatra anukramank sankhya (roll
no.)".
after the basics, this is the conversation that
ensued:
senior: teri hobbies kya hain bey?
satpal:meri hobbies hain,..
senior : abey hindi mein bolne ko bola naa...
satpal:ohh...meri abhiruchiyan hain computer games
khelna, badminton khelna,..
senior (furious): (expletive1) tere ko samajh nahin
aati (expletive2) hindi mein bol (expletive3)!!
narration:all right now satpal is confused scared and
pretty much peein his pants, he has to say "computer
games" in hindi which he's quite sure he cant pull
off, but he must say something.
satpal: err.......umm.........meri abhiruchiyan hain
"dabba khel" khelna, badminton khelna..
seniors all together:(roar of laughter, and the first
smell of a really succesful evenin)
senior (his smile is eager and impatient, he knows
that this is exactly the kind of thing he n his pals
have bin w8in for all along ): accha! tu dabba khel
khelta hai, (points to switchboard)......woh dabba
dikh raha hai?
satpal: haan....
senior: jaa, jaake usko khel....
satpal:(walks upto the board, its kinda high, climbs
onto a chair, and begins to play "dabba khel". indeed,
soon the lights r coming on and off, the fans r
changng speed and everyone in the lounge is suddenly
interested in this new n remarkable game, people r all
over the place with laughter, they fall off their
chairs laughing, some r cheerin, others know they're
sides have split for good......... but satpal
determinedly continues.)
senior( still unable to stop laughin) : arey tu khelte
rehna, hum ghoom fir ke aatein hain.
satpal (watery smile on face): accha...
(many minutes later...the seniors return)
senior: toh..........kitne points hue?
(fresh round of laughter)
so, that was the "dabba khel" story, the story of how
one man, with a burnin desire and a will of steel can
change the world of competitive games forever.
meanwhile us mortals can only watch on in admiration
and hope that some day, the best of us will achieve
perhaps a miniscule percent of what great lives like
satpal can do.....
also we can and must be thankful that we not only know
this fine story, but also have had the good fortune of
meetin and indded knowin....... nay! befriending this
visionary and genius, satpal singh jain......hail to
him again.
cheers
