‘People crave friendship’: thousands flock to resurgence of centuries-old south Asian board game

Carrom, a game in which players flick counters into pockets on a board, has drawn hundreds to events across the UK On a Monday evening in the upstairs room of Dishoom Permit Room in Notting Hill, the atmosphere is already crackling before the games night begins. Chai is poured and passed around, chalk is dusted across wooden boards, and the sharp click of counters striking the surface cuts through the noise of conversation. At one table, Uneeb Khalid, 39, and his friend Varun Solan, 43, are d...

By Sundus Abdi