The childhood was not measured in the hours on a screen but in the rhythm of play. The closing of school books & signaled the start of a different more joyful syllabus one taught not by teachers but by the siblings, parents & friends on fields & living room floors. My early life was punctuated by three distinct beats. The gentle arc of a shuttlecock at dusk, the decisive click of a carrom striker at night & the breathless shouts of "Kho!" in the afternoon sun. Each game was a world unto itself & building a foundation of joy that I was thought it last forever. Little did I know that one of those worlds would become a sacred silent memory.

As the sun dipped below the horizon & Karachi’s heat softened into a gentle evening, our family’s daily migration to the park would begin from 9 PM to 10 PM sharp. The badminton court became our kingdom. My elder brother armed with a competitive glint & would face off against me while our parents cheered from the sidelines & joined in for chaotic doubles matches. The streetlights were our stadium lamps & casting the long shadows as we leaped for smashes. The shuttlecock, sometimes feathered & new often battered and taped would soar against the darkening sky. This was not just the exercise but, it was also our daily reunion. An hour of pure unadulterated connection where homework & work stress were forgotten. The park filled with the sounds of other families and this was the tapestry of simple, shared happiness.

Dinner would settle, and the most awaited sound would follow: the soft thud of the wooden Carrom board being placed on the living room floor. This was our post-dinner ritual. The teams were fixed—my partner was my mother, with her patient, strategic placements, while my elder brother partnered with my father, whose powerful, precise shots we feared. The room would fill with the gentle clatter of pieces concentrated silence broken by a triumphant exclamation and a groan of a missed pocket. We were played for nothing but the pride of a win & the warmth of togetherness. My father’s focused eyes, his skilled fingers flicking the striker these were the details of a perfect ordinary nights. This game was the heartbeat of our home specially mine.

If evening was for family, afternoon was for unbridled friendship. The school lunch bell was a starting pistol. My class fellows—both girls and boys—would race to the ground, quickly dividing into teams for Kho Kho. The dusty field became an arena of speed and strategy. I loved being the chaser. The thrill of the pursuit, the quick pivots & the strategic "Kho" taps to keep the chain moving. It was a whirlwind of school uniforms, flying braids, laughter & shouts that echoed until our teachers whistle the called us back. This game taught me raw teamwork, trust & the pure physical joy of being part of a pack. It was our shared secret language of the play.

These all games was taught me everything about life. Badminton taught me consistency & finding light in daily routine. Kho Kho taught me agility, teamwork & the trust in others. But Carrom taught me the deepest lesson, that the most precious things are not the victories but the people sitting across the board from you.

Today, the Carrom board sits silent. My father passed away in 2022 and till to still not a single game has been played on it since. The ritual died with him. I was miss the game but more than that I miss my partner's partner. I miss his presence his focus, the sound of his striker. Sometimes, when I think of those post dinner hours. I am still that little boy I cry for the time spent with him & for the time that can no longer be.

The little me lived for these games. He did not know they were building memories that would become pillars of her soul. Badminton & Kho Kho remind me of joy & energy but the Carrom is now a bittersweet treasure, a direct link to my father’s love. These were not just games but, they were all the language of my childhood, spoken in swings, strikes & sprints and in that language, I learned that some bonds even when physically broken, score a permanent place in your heart.