Sheikh Mohammad Fahim

Let me clarify something before you start to indulge yourself into this brilliantly written piece. This is not going to be a biased article written to express my own suppressed emotions in dealing with the stigma placed upon gaming in Bangladesh. What I wish to accomplish with this piece is simple; I want people to understand it for what it really is other than just a waste of time, as categorized by parents.
I realize as I write this down, each letter magically appearing in front of my eyes on the monitor as I tapped on the keys in a synchronized fashion, that mere words would not do justice to this topic. However, I will do all I can to do justice to the enigma that is Gaming.
Video game in short is defined as a game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a television screen or other display screen. Atleast that is the first definition Google threw in my face.
It is so much more than that. But for the sake of there not being enough space on this paper for me to fully unleash what is on my mind, I’ll stick to a weekly article on gaming.This edition is going to set the boundaries on what gaming really means to people. I’m not going to touch up on the international scene and the national scene which is so far behind, you’ll have to wait till later editions for that.
In this edition I’ll talk about the psychology behind gaming.
Gaming, in general, is a very time consuming practice.
It is a rope that lifts you from the pits of depression and boredom. It revives motivation and your mental stability if you are amongst the majority of people who have had a brush with the soul-sucking monster called Depression.
However, there is a catch. The rope raises you above the pits onto a slippery bridge with no railing. You walk on this cold, icy bridge, careful not to slip to either side. On the left lays the pit of depression and boredom and on the right rests the extremely attractive, brightly lit pit of addiction.
Sometimes the wind, as in the world, throws the people back into the pits of depression and there they yearn once again for the rope to lift them above this torture. The rope is always there. You just have to have the strength to reach out for it and lift yourself.
It is not as easy as it might seem but for those who reach out for this rope, judge them not as they are nothing short of desperate to feel something other than empty inside.
Occasionally you’ll not be able to keep your sanity as you stare down into the seductive pit of addiction. The temptation will be too much for you and you’ll gladly step over the edge into this pit. At first, everything will be fine. Everything will be magical and nothing in the world would matter. Nothing could possibly disrupt this trance you’re in. Time seems to go by so fast that you can hardly keep track of things. You miss out on important events or miss out on spending time with the appropriate people in your life. The charm of gaming starts to fade.
You find yourself too attracted to look away and too repulsed to keep looking as you realize what this addiction is doing to you.
You have two choices at that moment. Either find yourself everything you can find to use as a rope or go professional with the game
I choose the latter.

(To be continued)