No names please

Scrabble wants to come up with a new version of the game that can include proper names. We quizzed a cross-section for their take on this new concept that has sparked off a controversy in the West.

There are plans for a new version of Scrabble wherein players can include proper nouns. Players in the West are up in arms against this concept, pointing out that this will make the game easier. Back home, actress Pooja Bedi who’s been playing Scrabble and Unscrabble since she was knee-high, reacts with, “That’s ridiculous!”

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Ahmed Faiyaz, author of Love, Life & All That Jazz, echoes her opinion pointing out that adapting to new rules will take time. “It’ll create unnecessary confusion among players who have been playing the game for years,” he asserts. Faiyaz admits that’s he’s been a little out-of-touch with the game but “sometimes I play online Scrabble on Facebook and that’s pretty cool”.

Another writer, Rupal Patel, adds to the increasing arguments against this new move by reasoning that“this will not help in increasing one’s vocabulary and only knowledge of celebrity names”.Shyam Choithani, professor of English Literature, Communication Skills and Understanding Cinema at Mulund’s VG Vaze College, an avid follower of the game and one of the few aware of the fact that the World Scrabble Championship was recently held in London agrees that this new rule could take the charm away from the game and not add to the word bank.

“There will be no serious effort to come up with good words. It will kill the language and dictionaries will become redundant.IPL took away the charm of Test cricket and one-day matches, this could do just the same for the wonderful game of Scrabble,” he asserts. Surprisingly, he finds a supporter in Saif Surve, a student of NMIMS College.He says, “Proper names have nothing to do with the game. We don’t need this rule!” We agree!