Marottichal, India β Phones, wallets and half-drunk teacups clutter empty tables β except for one β at a teahouse in southern India, where a crowd has formed around a chess board and two competitors. One of them is year-old Gowrishankar Jayaraj. Surrounded by spectators vying for a view of the chess board, Jayaraj is competing blindfolded.
Jayaraj is playing a much older Baby John, whose expression is taut with discomfort. His shrinking shoulders and pursed mouth betray that he is a handful of moves away from losing his fourth game in nearly 40 minutes. Across the village, people regularly sit across chessboards, competing in the shade of bus stops, outside grocery shops and on the playground.
Jayaraj, who currently holds a rating by FIDE, hopes to follow in the footsteps of Indian heroes like Viswanathan Anand and Dommaraju, and become a grandmaster. His dream reflects the long journey Marottichal has taken to break from a reputation very different from the one it currently relishes.
Four decades ago, the village was in the grip of an alcohol addiction and gambling crisis that was pushing many families to the verge of ruin.
In the s, three Marottichal households were brewing nut-based alcohol for personal consumption. But by the early 80s, the village had become a regional hub for illicit alcohol production. But farming families began to neglect their livestock and crops.
