In others, they may bring out a love for something truly Indian. It is to attract such people that Kreeda (www.kreedagames.com) has launched traditional Indian games in a new, attractive format.

It began in 1999 when Vinita Siddhartha was researching Indian games for an article targeted at non-resident Indians. Later, she wrote another feature on Indian games for the Young World supplement of the Chennai-based newspaper The Hindu. It elicited so much response from the readers that she was amazed.

Then, the secretary of Chennai's MCTM Chidambaram Matriculation Higher Secondary School asked her to show the games to teachers at his school. He wanted to introduce the children to India's rich culture. Vinita's team worked with the teachers to put together a learning module based on the games, taking them beyond tradition to a new avatar, as a learning tool.

Take, for example, Parama Pada Sopanam. It is the traditional version of the popular board game snakes and ladders. The game is believed to be symbolic of man's attempt to reach god. The ladders represent virtues, the snakes represent vices. The snakes have names like Bakasura, Kumbhakarna, et cetera, that link them to evil characters from Indian epics.

When Vinita saw how interested the children were, she decided to start making the games too. She made 50 games of seven to eight varieties; her plan was to supply them to schools and to her friends. Read on. . .

Vinita Siddhartha of Kreeda.