The Day We Started Playing Video Games
My Father
Born to Bir Mangal Singh (my grandpa) and Padma Devi (grandma) in 1972, my father, Late Prakash Singh was a smart and troublemaking kid. He was an average-looking man with peculiar interests and great communication skills.
My aunt recalls how he bunked classes in school to visit the cinema, eat ice-creams and travel long distances with his friends. He was a man who loved experimenting, learning new things, and focusing on doing things that no one paid attention to.
Due to poor financial conditions in the household, my father had to manage time between school and helping grandpa in his daywork. My grandpa was a cloth merchant. Both father-son sold clothes during Tuesday markets (that’s when the majority came out of their homes to shop and explore the market), but, had their stalls set up separately. At dusk, they both compared their earnings, and almost every time, my father was the winner.
Growing up, he heard about this weird electronic wonder called ‘computer’. The place we live in, Naharkatia, is a very underdeveloped town with the bare minimum. (Yes, it still is) So, the people of Naharkatia didn’t know what a ‘computer’ was. The enthusiast traveled 100kms (up-down) with his best friend, Apollo Hazarika, to witness the wonder of Digboi, a much-developed town in our state. There, in some posh internet cafe, they saw computers, spent hours figuring things out, learning what the internet was and what could be done with these devices. And that’s when he made the decision to bring that invention to his hometown.
When I was born
July 13th, 2001. I was born. Fast forward to when I was four or five, I had my first experience with computers, and of course, video games. People considered me lucky to have computers and mobile phones and other electronic gadgets at home during a time when people barely had a television.
My father now managed a video agency, working on weddings and events, making sure people could replay their memories on VCDs. He helped edit some VCD films as well. And hence, there were around four-to-five computers for me to feast on.
My experience with video games
My first memories with video games revolve around Action Man, Fantastic Four, Aladdin, and Road Rash. I did play TV games that came with ’99 in 1' cassettes but I was mostly and still am a PC gamer.
During the time, I didn’t consider video games a means of escapism, rather several fantasy worlds full of wonders waiting to be explored. I loved how I took control of some other human being and that they functioned as I wanted them to be. It was mesmerizing.
I had many cousins and big brothers I knew in the colony who played dozens of games and considered themselves game-geeks. Rapidshare and torrents were cool back then. They didn’t give away how they downloaded those games. I often remember my dad paying them money to get those. Strange right? Buying original copies? We didn’t even know what that was.
With passing time, most of them got busy with their lives, and their connection with video games fragmented and at one point, separated completely. Even now when we meet at events or talk over phone calls, they recall how much they miss those days. Age of Empires LAN parties, Stronghold II and many more.
I, however, haven’t let the bond between me and video games grow weaker. Even today, I love video games as much as I loved them back then, if not more. As soon as I reached home after school, I played hours of Tank and Contra with my father, surfed the internet together, and learned a lot.
My father gifted me the PS4 on my birthday, last year. We traveled 60kms (up-down) to buy original copies of games, those boxes of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, GTA San Andreas, Max Payne 3, and many more. Those were expensive here. But he never complained. Mom often scolded him for spoiling me, but he always let me do what I loved.
He passed away this January fighting Septicemia for a year and a half.
I’m thankful for everything he did for me, every second of his life he spent on me, helping me learn, develop and become the person I am today, and mostly for introducing me to the world of wonders, the world of fantasies, and knowledge, the world of wisdom and the world of connection…
video games.