Ludo Satish

Every city has two sides and two colors. On one side the white-collared sophisticated crowd resides and on the other side, the blue collared hard labor crowd resides. In Chennai, Mylapoore is one of the posh areas where the Tamil Brahmins stayed and Ennore is the port area where the fishermen and factory workers stayed. Though both sides were right in their way, sometimes thing s tend to go wrong if someone crosses the border.

Satish, a man in his early 30's is a timid and submissive character from Mylapore. As soon as he wakes up early in the morning, he applies oil to his head, takes a bath, prays to god, takes blessings from his parents, and leaves for to office with a box of curd rice. After a regular 9-5 bank job, he comes back home, has filter coffee, has dinner with his parents, and sleeps early. This was his routine.

100% attendance, the best employee of the month, smart manager of the year, and the list goes on. Satish has received all the existing awards available in a government bank. In the sales department, he was known for his smart solutions, quick calculation, and timely deliveries. All his colleagues envied him for his qualities.

After serving the bank for 5 years, finally, the day arrived where Satish was expecting his promotion. The previous day he started early and came back home with a smile on his face. He came home, changed his dress, and got settled for a filter coffee.

Dad – Sattu…why are you smiling?

Satish – From tomorrow my life is going to change appa.

Dad – Why da? Have you got a lottery?

Satish – Aiyo..no..I will get a promotion.

Dad – What will be the post?

Satish – I don’t know…

As she speaks with his dad, Satish gets comfortable on his chair and looks into the ceiling, and starts daydreaming. Satish imagines himself inside a cabin where an office boy salutes him and offers him a cup of coffee.  

Satish – Could be senior accountant, senior manager, senior auditor …who knows.

Dad – Super da…

Satish comes back to his senses and replies –

I am going to be a senior, that’s all I know.

The next day, Satish enters the office with the same vibrant smile. It has extended till his ears now. Trying to hide his excitement, he adjusts his collar enters the branch Managers Cabin. Suddenly he gets surprised looking at the manager yelling at a customer on his phone. As he sits down the manager cuts the call and gulps a glass of water.

Manager – Yes Satish!

Satish – You called me sir.

Manager – Oh, yeah..sorry

Manager – Satish, today is the day you are going to be my equal. No, you will play an important role than me. Are you ready?

Satish – Always sir

Manager – Do you know your new post?

Satish –  New branch manager?

Manager’s face becomes stale and says – Then where will I go?

Satish gets embarrassed and says – Sorry sir, just joking.

Manager – you are going to be the lone officer in the Ennore branch.

Thunder strikes in Satish's ears and his smile disappears.

Satish – But, Si, why?

Manager – why not?

Satish remains silent and suddenly the manager gets a call and he continues shouting.

Even after coming home, Satish was still in shock. He tossed his lunch box aside and went to sleep directly. The next morning after getting ready, he took his parent's blessings and left for his new office. Ennore was different from Mylapore. Women were fighting on the streets for water, a group of auto drivers was playing cards, kids were running around on the road and amidst this chaos, there was a small building. That was his new office.

 

The new branch manager handed a file to Satish and said..

New manager – Satish sir, welcome to Ennore branch..

Satish gave a fake smile but inside he was crying in fear.

New manager – Satish, your main work is to follow back and get the people to pay their loan amount.

Satish – How are these customers?

New manager – Not to fear Satish, they are not bad.

Satish lets out a sigh.

New manager – But, some of them are rowdies and a few are dangerous. They have never paid their dues.

The fear came back to Satish.

Satish – What is the solution?

New manager – You are the solution.

Saying this he lets out a big laugh and goes out.

Satish goes back to his cabin and sits down to check his file. As he flips through the page, he spots scary photographs of scary men. He shuts the file, opens his box, and starts having curd rice for lunch. This was a job completely against his nature and he had to change is complete personality.  Lost in thoughts, Satish was staring at his computer. At the end of the day, he came back home and sat on his chair with a long face.

Dad – Sattu….what happened?

Satish – Po pa!

Dad – What happened?

Satish – I have to deal with rowdies from tomorrow.

Dad – Aiyo….Don’t worry …

In Rome, you have to be a roman.

With rowdies, you have to be a rowdy…

Satish remains silent and looks at his Dad.

Dad – Sattu..say something..

Satish keeps starring at his father.

Father gets concerned and asks – Sattu….are you ok?

Satish suddenly gets an idea, lets out a smile to his father, and goes back. She removes his formals, wears a lungi, wears a rubber sandal, puts on a checked shirt and a golden chain, messes his hair, and walks out. He wanted to become a rowdy to face one.

In his new getup, Satish approaches his first client’s home and observes him from a distance. The first client looked like a hunk. He was sitting with a couple of friends and playing cards. They were betting money on poker.

The client looked at Satish and offered him a chair. Satish with his newfound personality became confident and laughed. Everyone got confused looking at him.

Satish – Poker is for kids.

Legends play a different game.

The first client gives a Stern look and withdraws his cards.

Satish places his phone on the top of the table and says – Let’s play Ludo.

The client and his 2 friends got surprised and laughed. Satish quickly pulled his golden chain and placed it on the table to maintain the tension. The client and his friends broke their laughter and got serious.

The match began. Satish, being an introvert was well versed with Ludo. His extreme calculative mind helped him to make the right move. Just by looking at the number on dice, he could plan his next 5 moves. After a couple of matches, the client lost a lump of the amount to the manager.

After losing the client asked –

What’s your name?

Satish – Satish!

Ludo Satish!

From that day, little by little, Satish got back all his due amounts from the rest of his clients. A new culture began in Ennore. At every corner, kids and grown-up men started practicing ludo. Satish was the undefeated champion in it and became famous by the name Ludo Satish.