When in doubt, snook it out.

Every snooker table has its own crew of characters, but our gang takes the cake. Leading the pack is Razdan uncle, a living rulebook whose backward spin control on the ball moves faster than a bad driver. Right beside him on defense is Babaji, whose whole "what happens if you miss and where does the cue ball go" safety strategy is so detailed it could solve a world war.

Design for the second attempt

Between uncle explaining the rules and Babaji planning his next tactical move, we have the others. The heavy hitters, starting with Rajat. Honestly, if we had any real authority, we would kick him out of the group just because he is way too good at the game. On the other hand, we have Wanchoo sahab, also known as Narayan Dev, whose shots go into the pocket so smoothly and sometimes unexpectedly that you would think he is using a smart AI cue. Then there is Gaurav, who hits the ball with so much power that no kilo newtons scale on earth could measure the hit.

No game is complete without a dramatic exit, thanks to Arun bhaiya. After every single missed shot, he announces to everyone that he is going home right now, but he never actually leaves. He just chalks his cue stick, mutters something which are more than often expletives , and sticks around for three more rounds. His constant threat to walk out is pretty much a guaranteed part of every game we play.

Then enters "jhole waale baba" with his 2 big bags containing everything from a nail clipper, medicines, keys to probably spare parts of Elons Musks rocket. He is one guy who would sing old Bollywood songs with me according to how the situation unfolds on the table.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t cue.

Floating somewhere in the middle of all this madness is me. I am the quiet, “simple is boring” player of the group, slipping around the table so silently that the rest of the guys sometimes call me the ghost. While Gaurav tries to break the slate with sheer force and Rajat clears the table without breaking a sweat, I just gently tap the cue ball around and cross my fingers. We are definitely not going to turn pro anytime soon, but you will not find a better bunch of guys to spend an afternoon with.