Playing Backgammon, But Not For Keeps . . . and Never On Sunday!!!

During winter vacations from public school, Marash Girl and her siblings and cousins loved to play tavla, as we called it -- (nard in Armenian, backgammon for those of you who don't speak Turkish or Armenian). . . we had learned from watching our fathers engage in what seemed to be ferocious competition. The rattle of the dice, the shouts of the players when they realized they had gotten lucky dice (du shesh, shesh besh, juaradu du, du bara),the slam of the backgammon pieces, the annoyance of the seasoned players as they moved their opponents' pieces into the correct slots. For us kids, it was pure fun. We never wagered money or toys; although we knew that backgammon was a popular game with adults, we never knew that in the coffee shops, the stakes were high ($$$) for those who played in backgammon competitions. But we did imitate the shouts of the players (always men, never women) as they (probably, though we didn't understand) cursed in Turkish (Armenians never cursed in Armenian -- as the saying goes, "Armenians pray in Armenian and curse in Turkish!") It is interesting to note, however, that we were never allowed to play backgammon on Sundays!