An online game by Child Relief and You (CRY) tweaks the classic Snakes and Ladders to create awareness about hurdles underprivileged children face while pursuing education

An online game by Child Relief and You (CRY) tweaks the classic Snakes and Ladders to create awareness about hurdles underprivileged children face while pursuing education

It's a case of coming full circle, or back to square one, if you like. Everyone's favourite board game Snakes and Ladders (S&L), which originated in India centuries ago, was initially played to help kids realise that good deeds (ladders) lead you to heaven and vices (snakes) could mean spiritual downfall.

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Now, NGO Child Relief and You (CRY) is using the game to reach out to urban children and adults to raise awareness about the need to make education accessible to the underprivileged.

"People living in metros are sheltered from the harsh realities of living in remote corners of the country. Educating children there becomes a major issue, especially in the absence of basic infrastructure, large scale poverty, bonded labour and malnourishment.

These often force kids to drop out and seek employment," says Priya Zutshi, Senior Manager - ommunications, CRY.

Statistics reveal that over 46% of all elementary school-going children across India drop out between standard 1 and 8, and over 1,48,696 government schools don't even have a building.

Armed with these statistics, CRY created a modified 6x6 inch Snakes and Ladders game with which they have been touring metros. There is a free online version too: you click on a dice representing 'chance', and as you move, you encounter ladders (incidents that help you go to school) or snakes (factors that make you step backwards).

Messages that pop up, when you step on a snake or a ladder ('my school has just one toilet for boys and girls', 'school is 10km from home.

It is too far to walk every day'), were collated by quizzing children from 220 Indian villages. "Playing this game makes you realise the setbacks the kids face, and experience a sense of achievement, which works better than plain preaching," believes Zutshi.

For players who are agitated enough to do something, there's a link on the site that tells you more about the Right to Education Act, and instructions on how you can donate money, spread the word and volunteer at BMC schools across the city.

In mythology
Originally called Moksha Patamu, the game was played to teach children the virtue of performing good deeds to attain salvation (Moksh), while a bad deed gave you rebirth in the lower forms of life (Patamu).

The proportion of ladders were lesser than snakes since it was tougher to follow the path of goodness. The Jain version was called Gyanbazi and featured the process of gaining supreme knowledge while avoiding misconduct.

Log on to: www.cry.org/ resources/flash/CRY_Snake_Ladder/snake_ladder_game.html
Call: 23096845 to buy the game