It was the age of video-mania. I am talking about the 1980s. It was just a couple of years since I took up my first job. I came from a middle class background. But my colleagues came from privileged families.
We would form a group and go for a walk during the lunch hour or in the evening after office hours to the nearby downtown area called Connaught Place in the heart of New Delhi. Connaught Place was our favourite haunt for window-shopping.
One evening, my friends took me to a video parlour and started playing video games. In those days, the machines used to be huge—not like the video games we play on our computers or mobile phones or the small handheld video games we find in the market these days. The themes varied from Motor Racing, War Games and a whole lot of other games.
I started off with Motor Racing which had controls of the car on the control panel. Eventually, I settled for a game called ‘The Pacman.’ But, once I started playing this game, I found it so addictive that I fell victim to its addiction in no time. And, before I knew, I got hooked.
Diwali was around the corner. It was the festival of lights which is a major festival in India. We used to get our annual bonus during Diwali season. My purse was stuffed with the bonus payment I got from my office.
On the day before Diwali, I stepped into my favourite video parlour and started playing ‘The Pacman.’ I kept on buying tokens and I kept on playing till I was down to my last few rupees. That was when I decided to stop.
There I was with a wallet full of money a few hours ago. And, here I was with just enough money to get home. That was a huge learning experience for me. There was no money in the game—only points to be won. Yet, it was no less addictive than gambling.
I lost all the money for nothing. I had so many plans for the money before I got my bonus payment. But everything went down the drain within hours of my entering that video parlour. I swore that I would never again play video games. And, to this date, I have stuck to that vow.
