Carrom Association

This week I have heard from friends in London.
They run the Carromcafe in Spitalfields market on a Sunday.

They tell me that every Sunday there are between 50-60 players, some who visit regularly.

It’s free to play.

There are six tables set up and they are busy all day.

Visitors to the city are pleasantly surprised and new friends are made.

Good news.

You can also buy delicious milkshakes & lassis.

They use only organic fruits, milk and yoghurts, and when in season, English strawberries and Alphonso mangoes, surely the tastiest in the world.

The thalis make a welcome change from roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and gravy.

Much healthier too.

So when you’re feeling bored, listless or at a loose end, drop by. You won’t regret it.

If you are on holiday the whole area is very interesting and the carromcafe will let you rest for a bit while you catch your breath before you go off to see the next church, park, museum or whatever. London is so exciting, beautiful but tiring.

If you feel inspired enough to want to start your own club somewhere, talk to the people on the stall.

They’re very helpful and as keen to promote carrom as I am.

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In the past I have been asked what a Carrom White Slam is.

Watch the video which explains it.

It shows Sanjay Murthy beating Madhusudana Rao in 2006 at the singles finals of the TV Asia Carrom Cup.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much more a video worth? Enjoy it.

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According to wikipedia the Americans play a variation of
Carrom which was brought from the East by missionaries in the 1890’s.

It is quite similar except the striker is lighter and the carrom pieces are smaller than in the games played in Asia and Europe.

This could be because they use rings instead of solid pieces.

These rings used to be made of wood, but now are available in plastic.

They also use short cues instead of fingers to pot their pieces and the boards have pockets built into the corners to make pocketing easier.

However a carrom board is not just a carrom board.

Many have patterns painted or printed on them that allow you to play crokinole, backgammon, chess, checkers and many more traditional board games.

The man held responsible for changing the original carrom was Henry Haskell, a Sunday school teacher.

I don’t know whether he should be congratulated or condemned.

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Just to show that carrom is alive and kicking in other parts of the world, or maybe that should be alive and flicking have a look at this site.

There is a wealth of information for the carrom enthusiast and some very interesting articles.

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WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
I just found this page and there are a whole bunch of guys standing playing carrom.

They cannot be serious.

I always sit down and make myself comfortable before I play.

Am I the only one? I don’t think so.

If you know who they are I’d be grateful to find out if they always play standing up.

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I am waiting for details, information and photos from various carrom associations and federations.

As I wrote earlier I’d like to spotlight a different country every week and with this in mind I sent off emails to various people. I am still waiting. I shall give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they are too busy to reply.

As soon as I recieve replies from the people I”ve written to, I shall publish.

If I don’t receive replies soon I shall do as much research as I can on my own, publish and be damned.

Also I have not had any luck with the United Kingdom.

I know it is played a lot there but it seems like some kind of secret society.

Nobody will tell me anything.

I could write posts every day about India, as there is always something going on there carromwise.

In fact a lot of my posts have simply been reports of Indian Carrom.

I love India and have visited many times, although admittedly not lately.

However there are many sites writing about Carrom there.

One of the best I have found can be seen here.

The young man who runs it has been a great help to me and I am very grateful to him.

But I would like to write about carrom in Europe, Asia, U.S.A, Australia and anywhere else.

So, if anyone around the globe is reading this, and if you are involved with carrom in any way, please let us know.

This year, if we all worked together, we could help carrom become more than just a game played occasionally at home.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from you.

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If you are not busy over the weekend, live near Vijayawada and have nothing better to do, go along to the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium, where there is a 4 day Carrom championship.

It starts on Saturday, but unfortunately I can’t tell you at what time.

The competition will be held in the Dafedhar Appa Rao Memorial Hall.

However the competition is only open to Central and State Government employees.

Men and women may enter and it will be singles only matches.

It’ll cost you 30 rupees to enter, if you’re eligible.

You must register before 8 pm. on March 9.

Because of the time difference that’s round about now, or you’ve just missed it.

Sorry.

Below are phone numbers you could call for more information.

For details, call 9394002218, 9441715951 or 0866-2436688.

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In the deep south of India junior carrom players from Visakhapatnam are slowly but surely honing their skills, and developing into world class players.

Both are pupils in class VII at the Siva Sivani School (Marripalem), where playing carrom is encouraged.

In the 34th sub-junior National Carrom Championships held in Trivandrum recently they came very near to victory.

A. Pavan secured second rank in the cadet boys’ category.

He made it to the finals where he was beaten by Shabaz Akthar of UP.

M.S.K. Harika made it through to the semi-finals and was fourth in the sub-junior girls event.

They both played extremely well against older and more experienced players.

Their coach, G. Srinivasa Rao, said he was very proud of the children and is optomistic about the future.

Read the complete article about the two future champions.

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Arun Deshpande is the current World Champion.
Have a look at this video and see how effortlessly he pots his piece.
Concentrate, cos if you blink you’ll miss it.
Arun Deshpande Video.
You can also buy his CD and maybe pick up some tips.

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Carrom is my favourite game
But I have no sense of shame
That I don’t play vey well
But there is to need to tell
Me how to flick my finger
Or hurry up… I like to linger

Carrom is a game of fun
No matter if you’ve lost or won.
If you have the time to spare
You can play it anywhere

Take my time, set up my shot
Position my striker, oh almost forgot
Maybe a little sprinkling of powder
And silence please. The noise gets louder
The coin clacks against the side
Oh what a pity. It’s too wide.

Carrom is a game of fun
No matter if you’ve lost or won.
If you have the time to spare
You can play it anywhere

Missed the next one, and the next
Not to worry, I’m not vexed
Toffs can play it and riff-raff
Take it seriously or have a laugh
Just enjoy and make new friends
Go home happy when it ends,

Carrom is a game of fun
No matter if you’ve lost or won.
If you have the time to spare
You can play it anywhere.

If I could write music I’d write it here.
But I can’t.
If I knew how to do podcasts or video I’d sing it to you.
But I can’t do podcasts or video.
I can’t sing either.
If I could write poetry I wouldn’t be doing this. Probably.

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