Snakes & Ladders - Originated from India and has fascinating story.

Game of Snakes and Ladders, India, 19th century, Gouache on cloth

The game of snake and ladders was discovered in India by Gyandev in the 13th century.  Snakes and Ladders originated in India as part of a family of dice board games, including pachisi (present-day Ludo). It was known as moksha pAtam or vaikunthapaali or paramapada sopaanam (the ladder to salvation). The game made its way to England and was sold as Snakes and Ladders, then the basic concept was introduced in the United States as Chutes and Ladders (an "improved new version of England's famous indoor sport") by game pioneer Milton Bradley in 1943.

Known as Moksha Patam, the game was popular in ancient India and emphasized the role of fate or karma. A Jain version, Gyanbazi, dates to the 16th century. The game was called Leela and reflected the Hinduism consciousness surrounding everyday life. The underlying ideals of the game inspired a newer version to be introduced in Victorian England in 1892.

Moksha Patam was associated with traditional Hindu philosophy contrasting karma and kama, or destiny and desire. It emphasized destiny, as opposed to games such as pachisi, which focused on life as a mixture of skill (free will) and luck. The game has also been interpreted and used as a tool for teaching the effects of good deeds versus bad. The ladders represented virtues such as generosity, faith, and humility, while the snakes represented vices such as lust, anger, murder, and theft. The morality lesson of the game was that a person can attain salvation (Moksha) through doing good, whereas by doing evil one will inherit rebirth to lower forms of life. The number of ladders was less than the number of snakes as a reminder that a path of good is much more difficult to tread than a path of sins. Presumably the number "100" represented Moksha (salvation). In Andhra Pradesh, snakes and ladders is played in the name of Vaikuntapali.

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Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born 18 July in the year 1918. He was named Rolihlahla and got the name Mandela from his grandfather. The name Nelson was given to him by his teacher Miss Mdingane. He was born in Mveso, Umtata in the Cape Province. After the death of his father he was looked after by his relative. He became the first child of Mandela family to get education. He was an intelligent child and completed the Junior certificate in two years instead of three. Nelson took admission in the University of Fort Hare to do Bachelor's in Arts but was soon suspended as he joined in the protest boycott. He accomplished his graduation through correspondence from the University of South Africa. Mandela was a bright student and while in prison he studied and passed Bachelor's degree of Law from the University of London External Program and in 1952 he along with Tambo started the first legal firm for the black in South Africa.



In 1956 he was arrested for a deceit with 150 more blacks but they managed to elope in 1961; to escape arrest he disguised in different forms. Though a tough believer of non violence he formed MK guerrilla force to fight against apartheid. He was finally sent to prison in 1962 and was imprisoned for 27 long years and was released in 1990.

In 1994 he was elected the first South African president elected in the complete democratic elections. A simple president was well known for wearing Madiba shirts (batik painted). He was 75 when he was elected the president, the first oldest president.

Mandela has almost 250 prizes to his name. Some of them being Nobel Peace Prize, honorary Canadian citizen, Lenin Peace Prize and many others. His degrees are from the renowned Universities which are more than fifty from all around the world.