There
is a uniqueness for each and every numeral right from 0 to 9; 0 is the epitome
of co – operation and teamwork (musters nothing individually), 1 for standing
out from the lot (neither prime nor composite), 2 for doing things different
rather than working towards different things (it’s the only even prime number),
7 for the number of notes in music. And for 9, it’s the SuDoKu.
Focussing
my interest in Mathematics and number crunching was nothing but a myth for me
until I came across this Game of Grids.
My affair with SuDoKu just began as a pastime due to my bro’s interest but now,
it’s a part of my day – to – day life. A day neither begins nor ends without
this 9*9 miniature model of the Microsoft Excel flirting with me.
Starting
in my 9th grade, I didn’t know at that time that some variants of
the game existed as I was well into the CLASSIC puzzles. Just when I started to
imagine, “Arey whaahh… You’re a legend in
this game”, college festivals started mocking by showing the exit door to me.
I was nothing short of dejected to know that there existed other different
types of Sudoku, which were alien to me – Hex, Diagonal, Odd and Even, Chaotic,
Diabolical, etc.
“Okay kid… you’re still a toddler. Maybe,
it’s better to step out of this world of numeral checkers”, said I to
myself. But, that wasn’t to be. I was oblivious to the prick of a fate that one
bus travel would move me back to this number game. An old man, sitting next to
me, was reading one of Sundara Ramaswamy’s short stories, Vikaasam. Thoughts meandered, covering several mean free paths
between them, and a light dawned upon me. I took out my Sony Xperia C and
solved a HARD level puzzle with my personal best timing. But what was that that
could change my mind so easily by noticing the title of a short story?
Vikaasam
is not just a story merely. It just shows how the true love and care of human
beings towards one another cannot be replaced by a machine, however programmed
it may be. There’s an old man called Rowther,
an illiterate villager who is unaware of the nuances of Abacus, but calculates
at such speeds that he becomes an inseparable part of the large textile shop,
maintained by another man. There comes few misunderstandings and Rowther is
dethroned from his job and enter the calculator – the costly, mind – boggling
machine – that replaces him at the cash counter. The story proceeds through a
chain of events post Rowther’s exit that reveals that the old man is but more
than a solving machine. He remains a friend, caretaker, well – wisher, and also
a calculator for his master and his family. The trick of using calculator as an
analogy to stress that Rowther doesn’t only solve numbers, but also the number
of problems of his master, forms the crux of this story.
All
these thoughts of the story that had been a part of my English non – detail
(translated version) in my 9th grade whizzed from one side of my brain
to another just like the Auro 3D sound system. And, that was the reason I
solved my immediate attempt with relatively better concentration and
determination. Now, I have bagged four prizes (trust me, the cash awards are a
way to avoid imploring and whining for pocket money) and the list is about to
continue.
But,
what matters here am not me but the game itself. It teaches the way of leading
a life. Each rule is philosophical in its own way, enlightening me towards a
moulded state.
1) Only one number can fit in one cell
This
seconds the saying, Jack of All but
Master of None. There’ll be something which I would be worthy of doing.
Focus towards only one aspect of life and we’re sure to be rewarded. This made
me contemplate on my area of expertise, and though I may be a boring writer
producing junk in my blog, I have managed to keep up the enthusiasm of
continuously staying on the line. Writing is my key to the unexplored doors of
the world.
2) Focus on rows, columns and grids,
all at the same time.
This
made me realize that though there are our own, ‘within the circle’ commitments,
we ought to maximize our horizon beyond this closed circle called the safe
zone. Grid symbolizes our closed circle, while rows and columns are the
exposures to lead us to glory.
3) There may be two logical solutions
for a puzzle.
Never
be a stereotype is what this one taught me. There may be alternative aspects
which, when done, would make us feel pessimistic and outdone. But then, that
second solution may prove to be the pathway of true success.
There
are many other psychological and visible effects after Sudoku embraced me, or
rather, I became part of this logical sport. Such is the intensity of the game
that I am forced to type this piece of junk in the gap between two rounds of
the Times of India SuDoKu contest. Life is full of problems like SuDoKu, but
once we start solving them, we fall for them even without our knowledge and
long for more and more of them to come.
