From the dabbu club

Cricket might still be called the gentleman’s game despite the women’s cricket teams and the scoundrels on the cricket board but there are other games which make no pretenses about the class and culture of their patrons. I give you the unassuming but vastly entertaining dabbu.

Imagine a small, smoke-filled room, a large plywood board and your pick of street criminals, unemployed youth, good-for-nothing layabouts and low-paid members of the working class. This is essentially the setting for this indoor game, which has now become an integral part of urban life in Karachi. For a vast majority of male adults living in slums, dabbu is the cheapest form of entertainment available and an essential part of their everyday lives. The origin of the word ‘dabbu’ is unknown but the gigantic wooden board on which this game is played might give a clue. In any case, the name, like the game, is more appealing and catchy than gilli-danda, cricket, or hockey.

For the dabbu masters, it’s a soul-nourishing activity as well as a platform to raise their voice on social issues for the benefit of their admiring audience. From the ravishing beauty of Katrina Kaif to the dancing of the cheerleaders in IPL matches to Javed’s nihari, every matter of importance is thoroughly hashed out at dabbu. It is a place to educate yourself on political and social issues — around dabbu, you can familiarise yourself with your newly-arrived neighbours as well as with the global policies being applied by the United States. Dabbu clubs also serve as coveted spots for general meetings and often political groups haunt the venues looking to recruit workers and activists.

Dabbu is basically a distorted form of carrom, that wholesome game much beloved by the children of the well to do. The Queen remains the ultimate target of a dabbu player but, unlike carrom, there are three Queens on the dabbu board instead of just one. Considering that human history is replete with deadly wars fought over a single woman, it is a testament to the bravery of dabbu players that they pocket three Queens at a time. The most challenging part of the game is that you need to hit your desired Queen first before celebrating any other strikes. Otherwise, the rules of dabbu are not all that different from carrom. The comparatively relaxed set of rules helps players demonstrate their prowess without any unnecessary restrictions. While one needs to sit when playing a carrom board game, when it comes to dabbu, you have to stand on your feet. You may sit on a wooden stool for your comfort but such convenience goes against the real dabbu spirit. As in carrom, many powders are sprinkled on the board to decrease friction and speed up the game. This is also facilitated by the sweat continuously dripping from the vest-clad players on the board.

Every shot struck by a dabbu master, as a rule, is accompanied by a slang word and normally offensive expletives are taken as essential energy boosters for both players and spectators. If ‘Bo kata’ is chanted during kite-flying then ‘Ye Mara’ is reserved for a perfect shot played at dabbu. Just like a free-style wrestler, a genuine dabbu master uses his hands, legs and entire body to manipulate the game. Offering a combination of physical and mental maneuvers, dabbu is a poor man’s billiards where carrom-men (goti) are hit by a striker instead of a cue ball. Despite being an indoor game, it may be played under the open sky and the latest trend is to have dabbu games on 20-20. It can also be played in both singles and doubles, just like tennis. In singles, the players sit opposite to each other whereas in doubles the players need to occupy all sides of the board.

On your way to the dabbu club, stop at a few of the gutka outlets and paan shops to boost the thrill and joy of the game. While all paan and gutka chewers have the right to paint the town red, the walls and floors of dabbu club are veritable art galleries of abstract designs.

The popularity of this game can be judged by the number of dabbu tournaments held throughout the year in different localities of the metropolis. I once participated in the ‘All Landhi-Korangi Dabbu Tournament’, a mega-event in which leading dabbu players from all over the city participated.

Dabbu might have the distinction of being the only game in human history which is widely enjoyed by drug addicts who normally lack the attention-span for such things. Grocery sellers, loaders, child labourers and professional beggars are the people who, at the end of a long day, find a cool resting place on the benches of dabbu clubs and strike to win by spending a few rupees from their daily wages.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2010.