Life is a game; Play it with God - a chess champion's journey_Part 1

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is love, enjoy it.

• Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

There is no doubt that the greatest game to have ever been created is the game called Life. No other game can beat it in its ability to stretch the mind and body, in the variety of outcomes it offers, in the infinite opportunities available for comeback and, most importantly, in the fact that every player can emerge a winner. However, if one had to pick a distant second best, my choice would be the game of Chess.  Chess seems to be the game which comes closest to mirroring life, rich in its metaphors for human experience. Right off the top of my head, I can think of a few:

• Sacrifice: You must be willing to give up the things you love the most to be able to come up trumps at the end.
• Forethought: To succeed in the long-term, it's crucial to plan well in advance
• Equanimity: It's vital that you never suffer or celebrate in the middle of the game which could lead to lapses.
• Valuing time: The end-time of the game is already fixed and you better ensure that you achieve fulfillment before the timer runs out.

Chess, like life, gives hope for the lowest to rise to the highest level.

I am sure that spending a little more time and thought, one can come up with many more. It was only after listening to the story of a little Chess champion that I realized how Chess could help one attain the Ultimate in life too - that too at a tender age. Having been born in 2005, it is not as if she has dozens of years of experience under her belt to justify her attainment. But then, that is another specialty common to Chess and Life - the smallest pawn, with perseverance and faith, can become the most potent piece on board, the Queen. Maybe, that is also one of the major differences between Life and Chess. In Life, as Swami puts it, with faith and perseverance (Shraddha and Saburi), one is able to become the Ultimate (the King piece) also!

With that introduction, it is time now to dive into this magnificent story that spans a decade and is still being written by the Divine Script Writer.

Start Early

When a baby girl first opened her eyes to the world on the 24th of April, 2005, the parents were beside themselves with joy. The father, T.S.Ravi was an International Master (IM) in Chess, having played many times with the Indian legend Vishnwanathan Anand. The mother, Sai Meera,  was a Women’s International Master (WIM) in Chess. They both felt that they had made their best moves in life to get an angelic daughter.

“It is only by the grace of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba that this child has been gifted to our family”, proclaimed the maternal grandfather, a sworn devotee of his Swami. To signify the watchful protection Bhagawan Baba under which the baby was born, she was named Rakshitta.