Games people play

Bunny is a very puzzling person. Puzzling not in the sense of being perplexing, or strange, but puzzling in that she enjoys solving puzzles of various kinds. Apart from daily doing the cryptic crossword from The Telegraph, London, a feature to which we subscribe, she uses several apps to solve puzzles ranging from mathematics to Mahjong, and engages in general knowledge quizzes. Bunny and I were introduced to the intriguing world of puzzles and word games in our early 20s, under the tutelage of an expat Englishman, Brian St John Conway, the oldest member of the Saturday Club in Calcutta, who schooled us in the intricacies of the London Times crossword, which was carried by The Statesman newspaper. An early initiation which became a daily addiction. Typical crossword clue: H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O.Drink it! (5 letters) Answer: Water (H to O, H2O) Medical science says that doing puzzles and engaging in other forms of mind sport help to keep one’s mind nimble and active and stave off mental ailments like Alzheimer’s and dementia. But mental gymnastics can do much more than keep our brains sharp. According to the Dutch historian and social psychologist, Johan Huizinga, such intellectual playfulness might be the cornerstone of human culture and civilisation. In his 1938 book, Homo Ludens, the writer claims that all cultures and civilisations are based on the human instinct for game-playing. The word ‘Luden’ is derived from the Latin verb, ludere, the noun being ludus, meaning sport or play. The board game, Ludo, is probably derived from this root. Huizinga’s thesis is that in order to play games, including mental games, we have to understand the rules which govern such activities. It is this innate capacity to comprehend and follow rules that is the basis of all civilisation. So – despite minor distractions like pandemics, wars, natural calamities, climate change, pollution, inflation, you name it – we play cricket, and football, and kabaddi, and solve sudoku and crossword puzzles. Which goes to show that the biggest puzzle of all, which we’ll never solve, is that which creates puzzles: the human mind itself.