KARACHI (AFP) – “Dram”, meaning a measure of a drink. “Turm”, describing a cavalry unit. “Taupie”, a foolish youngster.
Not words in a typical teen’s vocabulary, but all come easily to Pakistani prodigy Bilal Asher, world under-14 Scrabble champion.
Despite a musty reputation, the word-spelling game has a cult youth following in Pakistan, a legacy of the English language imposed by Britain’s empire but which the country has adapted into its own dialect since independence.
In the eccentric field of competitive Scrabble, Pakistan’s youngsters reign supreme – the current youth world champions and past victors more times than any other nation since the tournament debuted in 2006. “It requires a lot of hard work and determination,” said 13-year-old Asher after vanquishing a grey-bearded opponent.
“You have to trust the process for a very long time, and then gradually it will show the results.”
Karachi, a megacity shrugging off its old definition as a den of violent crime, is Pakistan’s incubator for talent in Scrabble – where players spell words linked like a crossword with random lettered tiles.
Schools in the southern port metropolis organise tutorials with professional Scrabble coaches and grant scholarships to top players, while parents push their kids to become virtuosos.
“They inculcate you in this game,” said Asher, one of around 100 players thronging a hotel function room for a Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) event as most of the city dozed through a Sunday morning.
Daunters (meaning intimidating people), imarets (inns for pilgrims) and trienes (chemical compounds containing three double bonds) are spelled out by ranks of seated opponents.
Some are so young their feet don’t touch the ground, as they use chess clocks to time their turns.
“They’re so interested because the parents are interested,” said 16-year-old Affan Salman, who became the world youth Scrabble champion in Sri Lanka last year.
