Antakshari

 

Back in the day, during my childhood, we often played a fun game that is extinct now. It was called Antakshari. 

 

It was our favorite pastime in the dormitories whenever power cuts happened or when we used to have free periods in the classroom. 

 

One of the songs that was always contentious was the mother of all item numbers - Ek do teen from Tezab. 

 

Once, when we were playing Antakshari, a team got the letter ‘A’. They started off singing, “Ek do teen.. char panch che saat…” 

 

Then suddenly one smart ass from the rival team abruptly interrupted shouting, “Stop! Stop! This is a wrong song!” 

Now, there used to be a few smart asses in either team. Smart asses didn’t sing! In fact, they never sang. But they had great knowledge about all the songs. They were like lawyers. They would catch the incorrect songs, contest them, argue vehemently and win points for their teams. That’s why they were smart asses. When they had to sing a song for their team, they just read out the lines of the song; like, “Hum. Tum. Ek. Kamre. Me. Band. Hon.” like prose. Then the dumb singers would pick it up and sing happily and earn a point for their team. Teamwork, you see.

 

 If somebody just remembered the first line of the song, they used to repeat it like 10 times. This was where the smart asses came into the picture again. A smart ass would argue, “Not allowed! 0 points! You should sing the entire mukhda. Or at least sing a minimum of 2 lines!”

 

Typically, there are quite a few different characters in the game of Antakshari. Some shy types sit in the back row. They don’t know any songs; they can’t sing anything; they are just the cheerleaders applauding and laughing.  No one would notice even if they take a break for a piss.

 

There will always be a character who will be eagerly waiting for a particular letter so that they could sing their favorite song. They will be all quiet until they get their letter, say ‘L’. Then they suddenly jump in and start singing, “Likhe jo khat tujhe.. o teri yaad mein..” with all their feelings by closing their eyes. They even sing both the antaras lol. 

 

Now, let’s get back to the Ek do teen story. So, a smart ass of the opposite team stopped the song and argued with a smirk saying, “Wrong! This song doesn’t begin with ‘A’. It begins with ‘D’. It actually goes like, “ Ding dong ding.. ding dong ding dong ding ding.. ding dong dong!” 

 

“Kya pakda hai re!!”, cheered his team. Then, a smart ass of the other team stood up. I already said there used to be quite a few smart asses overall. 

 

Smart ass 2: That is Alap. Alap is not allowed!

 

Smart ass 1: Hell, no! That is not Alap. It’s very much part of the song

 

Smart ass 2: That means, this song doesn’t begin with ‘D’ but with ‘N’ !!

 

Smart ass 1: How? 

 

Smart ass 2: Check out the song. Madhuri starts with, “Namashkar! Kahiye, kya sunenge aap? Main kar rahi thi kisi ka intezaar.. bla bla” 

 

“Yes!”, yelled his team in unison claiming victory.

 

Smart ass 3: Wrong! The song actually begins with M!

 

Smart ass 2: How? 

 

Smart ass 3: It literally starts with the crowd chanting, “Mohini! Mohini! Mohini” 

 

“Oh fuck! Yes man”, surrendered all the other smart asses.

 

Fed up of all these altercations, the captains of both the teams unanimously declared that Ek do teen will be banned from all the antaksharis going forward. 

 

And the game resumed. 

 

Not sure why I wrote this. The point I was trying to make was 2 things. First, I love Ek do teen, and second, I miss Antaksharis!