Antakshari

Antakshri (Devnagri: अन्ताक्षरी, Urdu: انتاکشری) is a spoken parlor game played in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. Each contestant sings the first verse of a (usually Bollywood) movie song that begins with the Hindustani consonant on which the previous contestant's song selection ended.

Etymology

The word is derived from two Hindi words:

When these words are combined and an '-i' suffixed, the term means "[The game] of the ending letter". Due to schwa syncope in Hindi, अन्त्याक्सरी is pronounced antaksh.riin Hindi, "antakdi" in Gujarati, and "antakkhori" in Bangla (and not Antakshari, though that spelling is common in transliteration). A dialectical variation of the word is इन्ताक्षरी or Intakshri.

Rules

The game can be played by two or more people and is popular as a group activity during commutes, bus rides etc. The first singer has to sing two complete lines and then s/he may stop at the end of those or following lines. The last Hindi letter of the last word sung is then used by the next singer to sing another song, starting with that letter. The winner or winning team is decided by a process of elimination. The person or team that cannot come up with a song with the right consonant is eliminated if their opponents can produce such a song.