India, Dec. 14 -- There are no teams; no winners or losers. No one is ever knocked out. There is just a seething mass of players, taking turns to be king. An ancient version of dodgeball is played rather differently in Karnataka. The ball is thrown up in the air and everyone waits until it bounces three times, counting time with the term "Rama, Bhima, Soma..." (a sort of "Ready. Set. Go"). Whoever is nearest the ball then grabs it, and is now temporarily king. He hurls it at a target player while everyone dodges. (If a player manages to physically touch the person holding the ball, they cannot be targeted. So the king has reason to dodge too.) Whoever catches the ball after it is thrown is now king. And so the game rolls on, "an infinite lo...