The Video Game
The Video Game
In my opinion, addiction of any sort is dangerous for oneself, family, society and others in general. Now that can be an addiction of any sorts; i.e. smoking, drinking, betting, usage of banned substances, too much consumption of beverages, too much addiction to games etc. No good has ever come out of any addiction for any person in the world. Many lives have been ruined, families have been destroyed, and reputations have been damaged beyond repair just because of a momentary desire to get away from the realities of the world. There have been cases all over the world where people have realized this bitter and sad truth after losing everything due to their excessive addictive tendencies.
The world is full of examples where scores of people and even famous writers, actors, singers, sportsmen and women and many more have fallen prey to the alluring and seductive siren of addiction and ruined their lives. Few of the examples where famous people have been ruined are:
The Great writer and Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was an Opium addict. Though most of his masterpieces have been created when he was in a drug-induced haze.
The all-time American great Gothic Horror and crime fiction writer Edgar Allan Poe used to indulge in narcotic addiction.
The great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself sometimes used to sniff Opium. That is why Sherlock Holmes, the greatest fictional crime-fighter himself was an opium addict.
Everyone still remembers the famous iconic movie Home Alone and its most lovable child hero, McCauley Culkin. He became so famous at one time that his celebrity status even overshadowed the Hollywood superstars. As he grew up, he became addicted to this celebrity status fame and then gradually became alcohol and narcotic addict. Unfortunately, he had to give up his life for this very addiction.
The same is the case with child super-star of the very popular Television series ‘Baywatch’. Then another is the case of Charlie Sheen, the son of famous star Martin Sheen and himself a very famous Hollywood star also was alcohol and narcotic addict who has gradually recovered and rehabilitated himself. The same is the scenario even in sports and athletics where many world-famous sports personalities have lost their careers, their medals and even their reputation because of their addiction to body and muscle enhancing medicines.
This addiction and its aftermath are not restricted to western countries only, but even in India, many people have been gradually falling victim to various kinds of narcotics and banned substances which have ruined their lives and families. People these days tend to look for an alternate route of escape from the realities of life by seeking a temporary release from their arduous journey of life.
My following story is also based on a true-life experience in which one of my close friends had to undergo in his pubescent and growing years. Fortunately, now he is fully free of this vicious addiction and its side-effects. I would like to begin this story by giving this famous and very apt following quote:
“Addictions ... started like magical pets, pocket monsters. They did extraordinary tricks, showed you things you hadn't seen, were fun. But came, through some gradual dire alchemy, to make decisions for you. Eventually, they were making your most crucial life-decisions. And they were ... less intelligent than goldfish.”
-William Goldwin
One of earliest childhood memories, when I was growing up, is of the friendship I had with three other young boys of my age. They were Ajay, Vikram and Sunil. All of us were fast friends and were very close to each other. We were all in the same school but in different sections and during the recess, we used to meet up and share our lunches. We were known as the ‘Four Musketeers’ of the school and also were very notorious and popular at the same time. Others used to quip about us that ‘we were like blood-brothers’. Even in our neighbourhood, we used to go around together, party together, be mischievous together, etc. Ajay was the most studious and intelligent of all of us while Vikram was the relaxed and calm one and Sunil was the fun-loving, quirky one amongst us. I was just the silent one and usually be in their shadows though I had my own opinions and views which they respected and admired. We also helped each other during our examination time and spend long hours studying.
During those days there were not such technological advancements like the internet, social media and latest high-tech gadgets like Play station, Nintendo, WII or PSPs. It was during one evening after our examinations and during the vacations that we were introduced to the world of video and arcade games. In those days video and arcade games like ‘Super Mario Bros’, ‘Atari’, etc. were very popular amongst the youth and teenagers of our generation. We were also attracted to these games and used to enjoy these games whenever we got time. It was after one of these gaming sessions that we noticed a change in Ajay. It was as if it was his mission to finish the game as we could not. There was an intense concentration and focus on his face when he was playing the game that we were very surprised. Ajay was one of those guys who could pick up everything very easily once he was introduced to it. So naturally, he had mastered the art of this game also like a fish takes to water. So naturally, all of us depended upon him to clear the stages for us. Gradually he became such an expert at the game that others also started noticing him and started coming up to him for help in clearing their stages.
All of a sudden he started gaining popularity and fame of a different kind; that is of an expert gamer. There were times when the rest of us used to go and look for him and usually found him at the video and arcade game joint clearing someone’s stage. We started getting alarmed at the frequency of his presence there and also were tense whenever we used to notice a strange glee on his face when he successfully finished all the stages. There were also times when Ajay used to deliberately miss our evening walks and all talks which we used to have and when we went looking for him he was always found at the arcade.
Though we missed him very badly but used to reconcile that next time it would be different. Things started taking a serious turn when Ajay started charging from people for clearing their stages. We were surprised one day when he came to us running and in an excited voice said that “I am going to treat you guys to samosa & jalebi party with cold drinks”. When we asked him what was the occasion, at first he was evasive but then constantly poked by us that he replied that he had earned hundred rupees by clearing the stages of the games for a few people. This was a very serious matter for us and we were very much concerned for him. Things even became more serious when he started coming to school; though he got up and got dressed up for school but never turned up. This went on for a few days and when we went to his parents and asked whether he was alright, they were shocked and stunned to hear this. They said that he got up and got dressed for school every day and they thought he was going to school.
Even in the school teachers and other students started talking about Ajay’s prolonged absence from school and the principal was even considering either calling his parents or terminating him from school. We were naturally very nervous and along with his parents somehow managed to persuade our principal to give him one last chance. We as his friends were really scared for him and tried talking him out of it but he exploded on us rather and said that “I would rather spend my time on this game rather than wasting it with you”. We were stunned and shocked to hear this but we could not let him waste his life. There was a time when the situation turned to worse than ever before as Ajay started failing in his subjects and showed no interest in studying and also he started stealing from his parents.
All this because of some insignificant video game. This was the final straw and all three of us decided to take some strong action and we did too by physically removing Ajay from the arcade joint whenever we saw him there. As a result, he started feeling bitter towards and started to cut himself off from the rest of us because we were the roadblocks in between him and his video game. He stopped talking to us and even sharing his lunch with us during recess. It was as if some kind of wall had been created between us and him. We were naturally feeling bad about it but then Sunil gave us the idea of talking to one of our English teachers who were good at counseling. When we explained the whole situation to her, she said that to bring him back on the right path we had to do some reverse psychology with him. That was, in essence, encouraging him to play with his life at the same time to appraise of the side effects. In this Ajay’s parents and especially his mother also helped us by playing the emotional card on him.
At first, Ajay could not understand the sudden transformation in all of us and he was happy to be allowed to play his favourite video game. But then gradually he came to realize as days passed that his mother was really very serious and so were we in showing him the side effects of this addiction. Slowly and slowly Ajay started to realize that whatever he had done for this insane desire to play video games was wrong and unjustifiable. He started feeling guilty and apologized to us and his parents. We on the other were elated that he had realized the error of his ways and had decided to come back to us. As it is said that ‘when everything is assumed to be normal; Murphy’s Law comes to play’. The same thing happened with Ajay and during the first few months it was hard on him but he gradually overcame it all with sheer willpower and determination and a little bit of help from us.
Today Ajay is a successful businessman and is a happily married man. Today also all four of us meet and talk about the old days and the tough times we faced together. The reason for Ajay to come out of that vicious cycle of addiction was his sheer willpower and determination and a little bit of support from his family and friends.
That is why I said in the beginning that addiction of any sort is really dangerous and everyone should be sensible enough not to fall into its seductive charm. In recent times due to advances in technology and avid interest new and addictive internet and plays station games have been invented and introduced in the market. Now one cannot blame the makers, designers, and sponsors of these games as they doing it solely for commercial purposes and their profits. It is up to the sensible and educated youth of today’s world to understand this and be wary. These games are so addictive than their predecessors that people have been known to go to extreme lengths in their addiction for such games. Recent news articles have shown that a young man has killed his father because his father objected to him playing the most addictive PUBG video game. Another incident is that of a young brother killing his elder brother just because his brother wanted to play the same game at the same time. Instances of this kind have been on the rise all over the world and it should be an eye-opener for all the young people and their parents and the society as a whole. Even hard-core gamers have also now started taking notice of this pitfall.
So all I am saying is that playing games are okay as long it is for fun and relaxation purposes; when it becomes an addiction then it is probably time to take notice.
I hope you liked this story.