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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>Bar billiards
Ooooh - I love bar billards. The local when I was at college had a game and it was the highlight of many an evening spent avoiding exams.
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Fron what I remember (Bombay childhood) India
May I ask what you think of "Mumbai"? Since you were born there, it would be interesting to hear your views on the reversion, if that's what it is. The real reason for this post however was simply to ask if your childhood included playing carom? My Dad's family brought a board and pieces out with them when they emigrated here in 1948, and I remember it as a very fun game, even if the square board meant that the angles didn't translate well to rectangular snooker tables.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Aah! Max, are we related?? I played carom as a
child, on my cousin's board! Hexagonal, I think, or was it
octagonal? (This was a portable, flat board, and the
pieces were thumped with the fingers.)
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Wow! I didn't know that carom boards came in different shapes. I saw a photo on the Web from a carom tournament in the US, where all the competitors appeared to be emigrés from the Indian subcontinent, and all the boards visible (about 12) were square. My Dad would be aghast to hear that you thumped the pieces - he spent years trying, wih limited success, to teach me a very refined, silky-smooth flicking action with index and middle finger! 
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
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Max
I wasn't born in India - St Marys Hospital, Paddington, London, had that dubious privilege. I was brought up in Bombay though, and 22 years of it meant the city did get under my skin in more ways than one. As far as the name is concerned, some points to note:
1. The change to Mumbai cannot properly be called a reversion. There never was a city, or a town, called Mumbai. The area was first settled by, we are told 'Koli' people, fisherfolk who worshipped a deity called MumbaDevi, hence the alleged etymology of the current name. But…
2. The area in question was a small archipelago with many tiny fishing communities, notionally owned by Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries, and used by them because there was a relatively deep, sheltered from the storm, natural harbour East of the islands, between them and the mainland. This good harbour (or bay), was allegedly called Bom Bahia by the Portuguese. You chooses your history and you takes your pick - decent attestation for neither name is available.
3. Certainly, it was only after the 1600s, when the area was given to the British as part of a wedding dowry, did the modern city begin to take shape. Land was 'reclaimed' between the islands and they began to form part of the single tapering peninsula that is modern Bombay. Each island, by the way, had its own, well-established name at the time, again raising doubts about the provenance of Mumbai. The largest was Salsette, today forming the bulk of 'Greater Bombay', whereas the modern city is composed of five or six former islands including Colaba, Mahim and others.
4. Given all this, I find little substance in the claim that 'Mumbai' is the true, or native name of the city, particularly since the 'natives' never created the city in the first place. But…
5. Whilst I, having left nearly a decade ago, can be crusty and reactionary and stick to calling it Bombay (mu Bombay, goddammit), I recognise that politics can often override my personal preferences. The fascistic, nationalistic bunch of thugs (I say this advisedly) who have taken over Bombay's government over the past decade, will have it called Mumbai, and threaten all businesses with dire consequences if they don't toe the line. So the change seems now to be a fait accompli. In a generation or two, they may be wondering what the fuss was all about. I, however, will regret the loss of the city of my youth…
cheer
the sunshine warrior
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Thank you, shanks, for a beautifully lucid exposition of Bombay's history. My own knowledge of Indian history is very limited, mainly marginal to my work on C19 British Social history, but this has fired my imagination. I must start delving.
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
Max and others
1. As far as I am aware, carrom (as I've always spelt it), is only played on square boards. The holes/pockets, are at each corner.
2. There is a special 'piece', the Striker, which you place on your base line and use to hit the other 'coins'. Strikers are usually made of some heavy plastic, celluloid used to be favoured (and before that, ivory). The striker must always be 'flicked' by forefinger or middle finger (depending upon local rules, the thumb may be allowed for 'back' shots), and never pushed.
3. There are nine white coins, nine black coins, and one red/purple coin - the Queen. Coins are made of wood. The black and white coins count a point each, and the Queen counts 5.
4. Tournament level boards have a playing surface of a 4 foot square (approximately), with edges at least 5 or 6 inches thick (to provide solidity for a consistent rebound).
5. Preferred 'lubricant' for the board is Boric Acid powder.
Yes, obviously, I played the game a great deal when I was younger. I worked in an advertising agency in Bombay for about 4 and a half years, and each lunch time was spent playing carrom. What joy it is to have had a misspent youth! I could bore you, if you wanted, with further detail, but perhaps this is enough.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
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Be prepared for the brilliant language of propaganda in all things related to India. My favourite is this: in 1857, as is well known, there was a great deal of armed conflict all over India, primarily between native Indians, and their White/British 'overlords'.
In the UK, this conflict has always been called The Great Indian Mutiny.
In Indian history textbooks, it is only ever referred to as The First War of Indian Independence.
As I said before, you picks your side, and you chooses your nomenclature...
cheer
the sunshine warrior
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
2. There is a special 'piece', the Striker, which you place on your base line and use to hit the other 'coins'. Strikers are usually made of some heavy plastic, celluloid used to be favoured (and before that, ivory). The striker must always be 'flicked' by forefinger or middle finger (depending upon local rules, the thumb may be allowed for 'back' shots), and never pushed.My Dad had that 'back shot' down to a T - thanks for the nostalgia trip!
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Joined: Mar 2000
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
Max
I had flexible fingers but lousy long-distance aim, so 'back shots' were bread and butter for me too! Thank you too for allowing me to wallow - been a long time since I thought about carrom.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
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