I wrote seven lines and then deleted it all just to start writing again. You may wonder why? And the answer to this simple question will unfold in upcoming paragraphs.

If I remember correctly when we lived in Saharanpur, my elder brother took me to a shop, I was somewhat 3-4 years old. Now, It can not be called a video game parlour because a parlour has a lot to offer but that particular shop had just one black and white television and an 8-bit gaming console. But yes, You can call the shop owner opportunist. He used to charge a good sum of money for one game of Super Mario. Those were the days when spending five rupees on video games was something that was seen by middle-class parents as a rag living life of a king. So, in our lavish lifestyle, we used to save this small amount of money for our leisure, which had just three lifelines. My elder brother was generous enough to lend me his lifeline. One may wonder if loved me so much or just didn’t like playing Mario and the answer to that would be yes. He, I don’t know, if hated the game but was loving and supporting enough to see me beating grown-ass humans in random games.

Then one fine day, after a lot of years, my mama bought me an 8-bit console. I must be 8 or 9. You guys won’t believe it but This was the time when I owned bazillion games. 999999 in one, imagine so many games just in one. Long story short, my cousin and I had some good times playing on that sweet potato. Sorry if you feel hurt that I have called it a potato. But in my defence, I love potatoes.

Then was the advent of Intel Pentium 4 and I started playing, then, three years old tomb raider games. I was late to the party but that meant those games ran with more ease. My father thought I was on to something big but the only huge thing I had was my score in ‘icy tower”. Have you guys played it? It was temple run before temple run was even cool. Wait, does the last sentence make any sense?

Courtesy to my elder brother, I kept upgrading my PC and kept playing wonderful games. Name a game and I would tell you how I either sucked in it or fucked someone’s mom in it. No, the last bit is not true. Those were the days when gamers were polite enough to slip only a few waves of cuss words here and there.

Then in 2011 came one fateful day when I decided to quit gaming. Amnesia the dark descent was the last game that I played. I never, actually, left gaming. I have always had all the updates. Radbrad became more often “go-to” YouTube channel. But, I never played any game during these last nine years. Well, I played at times but I used to consciously pull myself out of such five minutes of self-pleasure. During this period I have planned to buy a console-like ten million times. But most of the time I have failed to convince myself.

Last week, I purchased an entry-level gaming laptop. Today, I purchased Tomb Raider which was released in 2013, in a steam sale. I felt like life coming in a full circle. But then I turned off my laptop, packed all my stuff with utmost patience and love and started writing what I eventually deleted.

“Games are not complicated, people are. We complicate our lives over things which could have been easily avoided. But is ‘avoiding’ a solution? Escapism will not help you achieve what you seek. So, I constantly remind myself to not engage in something that I have a platonic relationship with. Gaming can wait.”

Well, what can I say? I love gaming.

P.s. this blog may not make any sense but those who know, know.

See you guys later.