The H2H Phenomenon

As one of my friends, Saurabh Nagrecha kindly pointed out, I had unwittingly missed out on a whole class of bunkers. Offering my profuse apologies to them, I may say that they are a kind of underground movement slowly gaining momentum in the fringes of the Sathaye campus [if that can be called a campus]. H2H, ‘the perfect place for powerful gaming’; as the board proclaims is just what it alleges to be. The power of the place hits out at you the moment you enter the thankfully air conditioned room. The room reverberates with passionate cries of “Bhe*****, Ma*******, F*** and an assortment of colorful profanities; as avid gamers are hooked on to the 19 inch computer screen. My interview with one of the gamers began something like this. “Pakta nahi kya idhar din bhar?” I ventured cautiously. “Abe pakta hoga tere baap ko. CS hai toh sab kuch hai.” he politely answered my query, referring to the current Gen-X craze, Counter Strike [for the highly computer illiterate]. His eyes hadn’t left the computer screen at all. The computer screen was a decent hypnotist I thought. It could make you say things against your will.“Saala, is baar OC mein ud gaya hoon main. Jyada dimaag mat kha, already khiska hua hai.” He continued. I thought it better to obey him rather than having to explain the purplish patch on my face to mom. At any given point of time, there are at least ten people bickering to get a computer to vent out the frustrations of the day. And at Rs.30 per hour it is certainly not priced at something the average Joe could afford. The owner is certainly laughing all the way to the bank.Another good reason for the owner to smile is that H2H is getting new recruits everyday to fight the virtual battle on the screen, to fill its not-so-empty coffers. I don’t know whether for good or not, but everyone out there, brace yourself for the H2H phenomenon. P.S: H2H stands for Head to Head.