We make jigsaw puzzles and Board games, but we are only just beginning to guess the picture we might end up putting together. Right now, we are only enjoying the uniqueness of each story, that are as unique as the pieces of puzzles bought from us.
We started out, thinking of it as a way to introduce to people the rich visual culture of our land; starting with 3 distinct traditional painting styles and stories from our Indian mythology.
Initially, people were overwhelmed by the idea of putting together a 500 piece puzzle! but now, we have people asking us when they can get our next puzzle with 1000 or more pieces.Many of these stories have surprised us, made us happy, and always humbled the designer in us.
Stories of pregnant women who bought and enjoyed putting together our puzzles through their pregnancy, as a way of speding time in peace. To a family that decided to discard the rituals and put together a 500 piece Ramayana puzzle as a part of an 80th birthday celebration. With everyone pitching in by finding and placing at least one piece of the puzzle to complete the picture!
There was also a day when Mrs Vasanta Mohan(84), a member of Nightingales elders enrichment center in Bangalore, called us after putting together all other pieces of a puzzle, except for the pieces with the face of Lord Krishna. She wanted to end her experience with a “Darshana”(Sign) on the evening of Krishna Janmashtami. So thrilled and excited she was about the puzzles that she created a puzzle theme for Gokulashtami at her home. It was a delight for us to know and we were humbled by her perseverance to get them all framed adorning the walls of her house.
While women meditatively, organically, and cooperatively put the puzzles together; most men were organizing individual pieces and timing every puzzle they “built” together. Checking if they did better on time from the previous ones. For another couple in their 60’s, the same puzzles were an everyday chai time challenge! So many stories! So many different ways of play!
The most satisfying, are the stories that pour in from the mothers & grandparents who spend time with their children having beautiful moments narrating stories that they have heard from their parents. Also, the most touching have been stories from people who have bought the puzzles as a way to engage their aging parents; in a stories that they know and relate to. We were told that completing the puzzles gave them a small sense of achievement, in times when their movement and activities have been restricted, thanks to the Pandemic. Little did we expect our puzzles to be relished so eagerly by adults and the elderly as an activity they found peace in.
As we gather many of these stories, we realize that as creators that there is so much focus on children when it comes to the idea/ products for Play with emphasis is on their development; but, little do we value the importance of “Play” for adults and the elderly. Given our hectic, modern lives, focussing heavily on work, family commitments and “Outcomes”; we keep aside the basic human need for engagement and pleasure. The play, takes us out of a sense of time and place, making us value the experience, which is more important than the outcome that follows.
There is a lot of research on how beneficial it is for an adult to play. For now; we love the stories of joy and harmony our puzzles created for many of our patrons. These are the small pieces that are building our big picture !!
What is that adults in India would connect to?! a subject, an activity, an act! a story? We don’t know, but! that is the question that motivates us to continue to explore at our studio : Tacitgames. visit us on www.tacitgames.in
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