Snakes and Ladders

Jay and Sergey were sitting at the table facing each other as they intently enjoyed their game of Snakes and Ladders. Jay was reaching the point of completion. His heart beat faster as there was a long, scary snake, with a wide open mouth waiting for him at “98”. If he landed on 98 he would slither down to score 8, and would have to play his way up again. But if he avoided the 98, and went straight to 99 or 100, then he would win the game! But it would all depend upon the dice! He rolled the dice as his mother Naina called them downstairs.

“Jay dear, time for dinner! Can you both come down here please?”

So they had to tidy up and go downstairs where their parents waited for them to start dinner.

Jay, his mother Naina and father Yash were from Mumbai and had moved to London a couple of years ago. Yash and Naina worked with a large consulting company and their 7 year old Jay went to an international school nearby. Sergey, his mother Irina and father Vlad were from Moscow. They had been living in London for over fifteen years. Sergey and Jay went to school together and loved playing with each other. The two families lived close to each other and the parents took the same train to work every day. Thus they had become close friends and often had their weekend dinners together.

As the kids approached the dinner table, the two fathers were engrossed in a serious debate – a debate about “Choice” and “Chance”. The boys were not interested in the discussion and did not participate. They were eager to finish dinner, and return back to their game of snakes and ladders.

“You know Vlad, I do think that it’s all a matter of chance after-all. You see, I met Naina by chance, I found this job with my consulting firm by chance, this opportunity to come to London for work – that happened by chance too. So I do think that life is a matter of chances!” Said Yash.

“Yash my friend, you met Naina by chance, but you married her by your own choice! You accepted that job by your own choice, you accepted the opportunity to come to London by your own choice – none of that is a matter of chance. I strongly believe that what happens to us in life – is really the result of choices we make. Sometimes the choices are the right ones, at other times they are not the right ones.

So listen now, Irina and I have been given this opportunity to move to New York. But this is not a chance my friend – we worked hard to be considered for this opportunity. And now, I get this promotion to lead our American operations from New York. Irina’s company has agreed to transfer her there too. Now, again, it is a matter of choice for us – should we take this opportunity? We have almost made up our mind – we will be taking this up. I shall be signing the contract tomorrow!” responded Vlad.

“How could you do that dad? I was never even consulted? I don’t want to leave. I will miss my friends – I will miss Jay! Jay, you should go with us too.” argued Sergey. Jay and Sergey were indeed best friends – quite inseparable.

“Well, Sergey. I am sure Jay and his parents will visit us in NYC. We will be missing them too. I hope Jay’s mom and dad find an opportunity in the US soon, we will all live together again then. What say Yash?” said Vlad.

“Well you know, again this has happened a bit by chance – my company is going through a reorganization as a result of a recent merger. And now, all expats are going to be transferred back to their respective offices. So in reality, we may soon be moving back to Mumbai. Not sure we want to, but we may have to!” replied Yash.

The discussion went on for a while and soon it was time to retire for the day. Sergey stayed back for a sleepover, and his parents went back home – which was right next door.

The next morning started with the usual rush – the boys got ready for school, the dads went to drop them off and then took their train to work.

As soon as Vlad reached his bank, he received a phone call from his old mother in Moscow. It was not good news – his father had taken very sick and his mother needed help and assistance from her only child. Vlad had no choice but to pack his suitcase and rush to Moscow. Irina and Sergey stayed back, until there was more news from Vlad. Within 2 days they received news that Vlad’s family needed prolonged help – they would all have to leave for Moscow for good. They had to, unfortunately, decline the opportunity to move to New York. Jay and family were very sad to bid good bye to their friends. Sergey and Jay wept a lot and promised to stay in touch with each other on Facebook and Skype.

On this side, Yash, Naina and Jay had started their preparations and packing to move back home to Mumbai. The merger was almost complete and very soon they would get the confirmation and their air tickets to fly back home.

Just then, Yash’s British boss called him into his office and gave him some news – “Your work ethic and performance have been most appreciated Yash, so the newly formed leadership team in London have decided to make you an offer to lead our IT Consulting arm in the US – we are proposing, that you move to New York in the coming months. We shall begin the visa processing for you and your family if you agree to take the offer.”

This was unbelievable! Jay and Naina were very pleased with the news. They were young and adventurous, and the thought of moving to the US was exciting. Their visa was processed in the next few weeks and Jay’s family soon flew to New York and started their new life there.

Vlad & Irina soon found work in Moscow. They had to make the hard choice of moving back and settling down in Moscow to remain close to their family. Sergey started his school in Moscow – it was hard for him to get adjusted, but soon he got integrated with his new friends. He stayed in touch with Jay and spoke with him every week on Skype. Both Vlad and Irina were smart and hardworking. Soon they grew in their careers and reached the C level ranks in their respective organizations. They were spoken of with great respect at different forums.

Yash and Naina were proud of their friends who they continued to stay in touch with. They had settled down in NYC and were doing reasonably well. Yash had done a great job at his work place and had earned a couple of promotions too. Naina on the other hand had to give up her hectic consulting job after her maternity leave – yes, Jay now had a little sister. To begin with it was hard for Naina to remain without a job for an extended period of time. But her little baby girl was too delicate to be kept at a daycare. She was born pre-mature and needed constant care that only Naina could provide. So Naina had no choice but to stay back home. Thankfully a couple of years later the little girl had gained normalcy and better health. But Naina had to take up a job that was not as demanding as her consulting career. She had been thankfully accepted as an elementary school teacher. She would work four days a week for a few hours every day.

The boys, Jay and Sergey continued growing up with their respective families. A few years later, after finishing his under graduate degree in Moscow, Sergey decided that he would explore an opportunity to finish his Master’s in the USA. He had been in touch with Jay and his family and had discussed potential options with them. The two friends were indeed very excited with the prospect of getting together again, and perhaps, studying together as well.

Everything worked out in Sergey’s favor, and he was accepted at the University of Michigan to pursue a Master’s degree. Jay had also applied to the same school. Unfortunately, he was not accepted – he was placed on the school’s waiting list. So now it became really a matter of chance – if an accepted candidate dropped out, then Jay would get a spot. At the same time, Jay had been accepted at the Cambridge University in the UK. It looked as if he had no other choice, but to accept the Cambridge offer. The friends were obviously not very pleased with this.

Sergey started his course at Michigan and Jay moved to Cambridge for his studies. When they were a couple of weeks into the course, Jay received an acceptance from Michigan. What could he do now? It really was a choice he had – either he gave up his course at Cambridge, forgoing the course fees he had already paid, or he forgot all about Michigan. It was a tough choice, but he decided he would continue his course at Cambridge.

After their studies, the two friends had a great start to their respective careers and lives. Sergey had already made his mind up to return to Moscow to be with his girlfriend and to start his own entrepreneurial project there. He did exactly as per his plan. And Jay came back to NYC and found a job as a Software Engineer there. A few years later, Jay got married to another American Indian who had been chosen for him by his parents. They started a happy life together. Sergey on the other hand did not have much luck in love. His girlfriend broke up with him and moved away to Ukraine. Sergey went through a tough patch there. With Jay’s support, he was able to find a new life with the same software company; in a few months he too moved to NYC.

Finally, the two friends got back together – they were now working with the same company, only in different departments. In a couple of years, Sergey met an American pharmacist at a party. They fell deeply in love and very soon got married. Jay was obviously the best man!

It had been years after marriage, and Jay & his wife had been unable to have a baby. It had been a frustrating and difficult time for them. As a last resort they had decided to try the In vitro Fertilization technique to get pregnant. After the difficult and emotionally draining months of struggle, there had been success. The family was delighted and everyone was eagerly waiting for the birth of their first child.

Sergey and his wife were more fortunate in this regard – they were able to have their first one with relative ease! The two babies – Jay’s little boy and Sergey’s little girl arrived in the same year. The two friends decided to buy their respective houses close to each other – so that they could be there for each other whenever needed.  As their children grew up, they started going to the same school in town. The two little ones became good friends at school too.

Being neighbors and friends, Jay and Sergey (with their families) often had their dinners together over the weekends. One Saturday evening, they got together, and became rather nostalgic over a couple of beers.

“Remember Sergey? We were neighbors in London and our families got together for weekend lunches and dinners often. It feels like moving back in time, doesn’t it?” said Jay.

“True, I still remember the last meal we had together – our dads were talking about chance and choice. My dad was suggesting that everything in life is a matter of choices, while your dad insisted that things happened by chance.

Now if I think about it, Jay, I have indeed seen that a lot many things happen entirely by chance – of course, after the chance, I have always had the choice to make a decision.” continued Sergey.

“How true, things happen as a result of a complex matrix of chances & choices. Isn’t it?

Now, I do have some news Sergey. Our company’s London office has an opening that recently opened up. My boss spoke with me about it – looks like they see a fit with my profile. I am being considered for the role. We haven’t made up our minds yet, but most likely this move will happen.” said Jay.

“That is great news Jay. We will miss you obviously, but the opportunity is great and you should take it.” suggested Sergey.

As the dinner discussion continued, somewhere far, far away there was a roar of laughter. Two little angels wearing white robes were seated around a gold table. One of them was seated on a large comfortable chair, and the other one sat humbly on a little stool. They were enjoying their game of snakes and ladders. Their board was huge and had millions of pawns spread around – pawns with different colors and sizes.

The angel seated on the chair was clearly dominating the game – he had a large multi-faceted dice that he rolled and followed every move by a burst of laughter. The angel seated on the stool was calmer – he looked much more composed and did not laugh. He also rolled the dice, but reluctantly. It appeared as if he wanted to move his pawns without rolling the dice. But that was obviously not permitted in this game of Snakes & Ladders. Here, every pawn moved only by the dice, and his dominant friend seated on the chair ensured that the dice was rolled before every single movement.

The loud, dominant angel seated on the chair was Chance and the other, more composed and shy angel was Choice. As they looked at the playing board, they could see their two pawns – Sergey & Jay enjoying their quiet evening together. And they were talking about how things happen by choice and chance.

The two angels found the discussion most amusing and hilarious. Chance said to Choice – “Look at these pawns talking about us! Don’t they realize that their choices also happen by chance!”

He then looked at the Jay-pawn and winked at his friend on the stool. His shy little friend appeared very stressed. He was sweating nervously! There was a large snake right next to Jay, and it would take him all the way from 98 to 8. Would the Jay-pawn escape the snake and move ahead? Well, the dice is being rolled now.