Over the years Baba played a number of games, as he was interested in everything in creation, but these are the particular ones he played most often.
Atya-Patya (also called
Nighttime in the
Moonlight)
Baba explained that this game represented spirituality and was invented many centuries ago in India by ascetics and silent recluses. It is played in a large rectangular field with many horizontal lines and one bisecting vertical line. The vertical line represents Maya and the horizontal lines represent the vices: lust, anger, greed, etc. Baba used the symbolism of the game to illustrate spiritual truths. This game was played in the summer evenings when it was cooler and the
field was marked off with lime if it was private property and water if it was public.
Badminton
Cards
Baba liked to play cards and often added to the fun by mischievously cheating! Once Baba explained the spiritual significance of cards. He said the deuce through ten represents the lower evolutionary stages which the soul has to experience. The Jack symbolizes the human form, with fully developed consciousness and the stage of devotion. The Queen symbolizes the stages of karma and the spiritual journey of the soul on the inner path. The King symbolizes knowledge and the Ace
signifies the One without a second, Infinite Consciousness or God. A particular card game liked by Baba was La Risque.
Carom
Carom is an Indian game, which is similar to playing billiards, only with checkers instead of balls and using your fingers as pool sticks. Baba liked this game so much it often accompanied him on his travels.
Checkers
Chess
Cricket
Baba was fond of this game as a youngster and was a skillful player. As a child, Baba's teammates called him "electricity" because of his speed. Later in life, he often attended cricket matches with his mandali. Cricket is similar to baseball and is popular in India, England, Australia and South Africa.
Dhaabaa Dhubi (also called
Thumps and
Bumps)
In the early 1920s in Baba's ashram, Manzil-e-Meem, this game was sometimes played. To play, there was one person who threw a tennis ball and that person had to remain stationary. Everyone else would run helter skelter to escape being hit. The ball was aimed at the head of the others. If the one aimed at caught the ball they could then aim at another person's head. All were free to throw the ball as hard as they could but with no anger or malice. This game was played both outdoors
and indoors!
Gilli-Danda
This game is played by striking a small piece of wood laying on the ground, on its pointed end with a two-foot long stick, thereby sending it rotating into the air. Before the smaller stick hits the ground, it should be struck again with the longer stick hitting it as far away as possible. Baba once explained the spiritual significance of this game. When a Perfect Master selects a disciple to become worthy of God-Realization, he invariably strikes at the lower part of his nature,
his ego. This corresponds to the striking of the smaller piece by the larger stick to enable it to jump into the air. After the disciple's ego is shattered, the second hit drives him toward the goal of God-Realization.
Hide-and-Seek
Just as lovers of God search for God in their hearts, when Baba and his followers played Hide-and-Seek, Baba would hide and the others would search for him.
Kites
Baba especially loved flying kites when he was young. Later when Baba lived in Meherabad he would sometimes fly kites on Meherabad Hill.
Marbles
Baba enjoyed playing marbles as a child and later with children.
Parcheesi
Ping-Pong
Baba liked to play Ping-Pong so much that there is a Ping-Pong table on the back porch of his home at the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach. As with all games Baba or the team he was on always managed to win.
Seven Tiles
This was a game Baba liked to play with his men mandali. It consists of two teams and a pile of seven tiles placed in the middle of the ground. The two teams are across from each other with the seven tiles in between. The "in" team pitches a tennis ball from about 15 feet away in an attempt to knock down the pile of tiles. The "out" team must catch the ball before it bounces a second time. The "in" team scores if they tumble the tiles. The "out"
team puts the pitcher out by catching the ball before its second bounce. The clincher is that the "out" player must remember to bounce the ball as he returns it to the "in" pitcher. If he fails to make the ball bounce before it is caught, all of the caught out pitchers are back in the game again.
