{"id":328,"date":"2016-07-14T14:14:55","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T14:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=328"},"modified":"2016-07-14T14:14:55","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T14:14:55","slug":"day-chasing-pokemon-mumbai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=328","title":{"rendered":"My Day Chasing Pokemon in Mumbai"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p>hree boys were huddled together outside a garden wall, waving their cellphones in the air. The one wearing glasses stretched his arm over the moss-ridden barricade to gain better reach. I didn\u2019t need to hear their mumbling to know what they were looking for. My screen too indicated that there were numerous wild Pok\u00e9mon scattered in the park. Since the spiked iron gates were shut, the likes of us had to resort to walking around the boundary wall, hoping to bump into a <\/span>Jigglypuff<\/span><\/a> or two. <\/span>\n\nI spied on them from behind an empty autorickshaw, as the trio gave up, got into a car, and made their way towards a <\/span>Pok\u00e9Stop<\/span><\/a> five minutes away. As they drove past, I hopped out from behind my spot and pulled myself up onto the relatively low wall. They weren\u2019t willing to take such steps but I desperately wanted to catch the <\/span>Horsea<\/span><\/a> which seemed to be lurking inside. <\/span>\n\nA shrill whistle pierced through the air, preventing my progress. The guard from another residential complex had spotted me. I grinned sheepishly and jumped back down to the footpath, a little shame-faced.<\/span>\n\nA therapist had once told me that I didn\u2019t have a disposition to addiction. She\u2019d obviously never seen me hooked to Pok\u00e9mon \u2013 and the changes it was bringing about in my naturally shy personality. <\/span>\n\nWhen the show first started airing <\/span>in 2003<\/span>, I was seven and it threw our play-time schedule out of whack. Not a soul stepped out to the park between 5 and 5.30 pm. I\u2019ve had physical fights with friends when it came to the Mew vs Mewtwo <\/span>debate<\/span><\/a>. When I was nine, I even went to a theme party dressed as Ash Ketchum, the show\u2019s protagonist. And the only reason I ever wanted a Nintendo Game Boy was so that I could play Pok\u00e9mon Ruby or Sapphire. But my parents would never let me have it. <\/span>\n\nI have always been a reticent child, loath to go out and make friends. So they pushed me harder. \u201cEnough with videogames,\u201d they would yell. \u201cGo out, make friends, have adventures, and come back home with colour in your cheeks!\u201d They were afraid I\u2019d take the easiest route and end up being hooked to a device. <\/span>\n\nNow that I\u2019m old enough to choose how hooked-up to devices I want to be (very!) and decide for myself whether I like talking to new people (I don\u2019t), I dived headfirst into Pok\u00e9mon GO. My first Pok\u00e9mon (<\/span>Squirtle<\/span><\/a>) was caught on a colleague\u2019s plate of shawarma, and the rest is history. When I came home and animatedly described the new game, my mother\u2019s disapproval was evident. But she couldn\u2019t possibly confiscate my phone now that I was an adult. The next morning, she restrained an eye-roll when I told her I planned on playing it all day. <\/span>\n\nI began my day with a \u201cvisit\u201d to a Hanuman temple, a masjid, and a Kaal Bhairav temple, \u00a0thus beating my grandmother\u2019s record. I was reminded of all the times I was unwillingly dragged to these places on my vacations, and how much I\u2019d come to detest them. Now, ironically, a video game was propelling me back on the path of religion. <\/span>\n

Nearing the end of a long, satisfying day I sat back to admire my collection of 35 Pok\u00e9mon that I\u2019d returned with \u2013 but it wasn\u2019t the most valuable of my loot.<\/blockquote>\nMy chase took me deeper into Kandivali, beyond the immediate surroundings of my residence. As a former townie in denial about my shift to the suburbs, I had been doggedly ignoring my mother\u2019s pleas to explore our new neighbourhood. <\/span>\n\nTurns out, Kandivali isn\u2019t so bad after all. I chased a Nidoran up to a cute tea caf\u00e9, which is exactly where I plan on relaxing at the end of a stressful week. In my hunt to catch an elusive Scyther, I stumbled upon a restaurant that serves some pretty rad dosa, and a bid to capture Goldeen led me to discover quiet ruins of an old stone structure near Thakur College, where I befriended a couple of puppies.<\/span>\n\nOn my way home, I wound up in front of the park again. This time around the gate was unlatched and a few boys roamed the otherwise desolate premises, staring into their cellphones. I did something that I never do \u2013 I actually went and talked to them. <\/span>\n\n\u201cHave you guys managed to find anything besides the normal Pok\u00e9mon?\u201d I asked casually, masking my unease at having to make conversation. \u201cI haven\u2019t found much around here besides Doduos.\u201d The boys sized me up warily and enquired which <\/span>team<\/span><\/a> I was from. When they learnt that I hadn\u2019t chosen a faction yet, they relaxed. \u201cWe just caught a Pinsir there,\u201d one of them said, pointing to some bushes. \u201cYeah, I already got that one.\u201d We exchanged a few notes on where to find more interesting Pok\u00e9mon, then the one with a mohawk said, \u201cHow about you join Team Mystic when you level up?\u201d <\/span>\n\nI agreed, and had every intention of doing so, until I realised ten minutes later, that they had locked me inside. If I find those brats again, I\u2019m going to tell them I\u2019ve joined Team Valour.<\/span>\n\nNearing the end of a long, satisfying day I sat back to admire my collection of 35 Pok\u00e9mon that I\u2019d returned with \u2013 but it wasn\u2019t the most valuable of my loot. I\u2019d come back with the experience of having explored new places, spoken to new people. I\u2019d come back from an adventure, excitement in my eyes, and some colour in my cheeks. <\/span>\n\nAnd yes, Mom, it was all because of a videogame.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PokeGo has driven the world crazy chasing virtual monsters but it\u2019s had a few bonus benefits in the real world too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[62,63,64,65,66,67,591,592,593,594,80,595,596,597,598,71,72],"class_list":["post-328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-arre","tag-arre-digital-platform","tag-arre-originals","tag-arre-reads","tag-arre-text-articles","tag-arre-website","tag-bulbasaur","tag-charmander","tag-getting-out","tag-kandivali","tag-mumbai","tag-pikachu","tag-pokemon","tag-pokemon-go","tag-squirtle","tag-web-series","tag-web-shows"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Day Chasing Pokemon in Mumbai<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PokeGo has driven the world crazy chasing virtual monsters but it\u2019s had a few bonus 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