Grandfather in Las Vegas!

Summer-vacation afternoons, during primary-school years, were spent playing a “car board-game”. My paternal grandfather and I called the game “six-one”.  Each time the dice fell with a “six” on one die and a “one” on the other, you pocketed a “car”.

Grandpa had mastered the art of rolling the dice. The dice danced to his tunes. All he did…was give the dice a good shake with the magic chant- “vei-raja-vei”! That’s it! If he ordered “six-one”, he got six-one. Fords, Jaguars, Volkswagens- grandpa amassed cars by the dozen. And when it was my turn, the dice was a different animal altogether. Leave alone six-one, the dice appeared to have no sides apart from the numbers one and two!

For a child, repeated losing can dent his ego and render him a total spoilsport. What’s the point in playing if you cannot win even once? Grandpa tried his best, “You are not giving the dice a good shake! And where is “vei-raja-vei”? That’s how you will get a six-one!”

“Vei-raja-vei” irritated me. What does it even mean? It is just some silly mumbo-jumbo. The more I cursed “vei-raja-vei”, the farther I got from winning. Grandpa tried to comfort me, “Let’s play one more game! This time you will surely win!” The next game was worse. No cars came my way, while grandpa had stolen all the cars. He wore a broad smile, while I whined even more, threw the dice away in disgust and swore never to play “six-one” again!

Though we believe the behavior of the dice is based on simple probability, my childhood experience confirms otherwise. It is loaded in favor of certain people. They have a particular disposition, some unbridled enthusiasm, that spills over to the dice and makes the dice behave as though putty in their hands!

I am certain Yudhishthira was a sober, serious, poker-faced and a terribly straight-forward gentleman. There was no hope in hell…he will ever win a game of dice or even “six-one” for that matter. You needed someone whose infectious character can influence the dance of the dice.

A few years ago, before the pandemic, as part of a work assignment, I had the opportunity to visit Las Vegas in the US.  India has “punya-sthalas” and “moksha-puris” everywhere. “You can get moksha….by seeing Chidambaram, by dying in Kashi or by merely “thinking” of Tiruvannamalai!” We have grown up on such shlokas.

Las Vegas is diametrically opposite, both geographically and in its claim to fame. It is touted as the “Sin City of the world”- famous for its casinos with those expansive gambling dens. All that fills the Indian pious mind with “religious-fear”, so much so, you would cross your cheek with your palm murmuring “shiva-shiva”, Las Vegas stands for all that and more!

Grandma would say, “When Kali-yuga was about to begin, “Kali” deity had no place to stay- it was so pristine everywhere. Kali pleaded for a location and the first spot he got was a gambling den!”  

Las Vegas showcases Kali-yuga in its true colors. Both sides of the road are lined with an endless row of casinos. Each casino is a palace- crafted ornately and spread over multiple floors. Within each palace, it is a dazzle- anywhere you look, it glitters and sparkles- the gold on the walls, the gems on the pillars and the crystal on the chandeliers. Each floor is littered with all sorts of gambling possibilities- from the “slot machine” to “blackjack” and what not!

The push from within was immense. The mind pleaded with you- “Why not try a 10-dollar bill? Just a 10-dollar bill! Who knows? You may walk away with a million dollars! A million dollars!” I resisted stoutly, given my “six-one” track-record.

But I thought of grandpa. I should have brought him here, dressed in his characteristic white half-sleeve shirt and his spotless, white veshti. “Thatha! This is Las Vegas. This is a casino. You got it? You can select any game you want to play. You can say your “vei-raja-vei” or “bye-raja-bye” or any other mumbo-jumbo. Ok? End of the day, we must win a million dollars! You got it Thatha?”

I am sure grandpa would have won. I am sure he would have made ample moolah on that day- enough to fill an entire ship. I am sure I will still be counting the dollar in sackfuls, with several more sacks yet to be explored.

Alas…my trip to Vegas was a little too late. It was a few years after grandpa had passed beyond the pale of human existence. If only…if only…I had paid more attention to grandpa…if only I had mastered his “vei-raja-vei”!

If only…