Mumbai’s House of cards

Once known as the king of games, Bridge is losing ground in the city, but its patrons are optimistic

What do weekends at the CCI, Willingdon club, Radio club, Bombay Gymkhana, and BARC staff club have in common? It is the hush that encompasses loyalists straining their intellect as the Bridge tables. Also, every one of the above mentioned clubs has a dedicated Bridge room.

"Players typically play here in the evening or on weekends socially and may be with small stakes," says Arvind Vaidya, who has represented India in Bridge.

The Bridge-playing community in the city is divided into two segments: The social players and tournament Bridge players. The venues for the two variations are the same. "Most of these places hold weekly, fortnightly or monthly bridge contests spanning about 3 hours," says Vaidya.

With the city's Bridge calendar always abuzz with around 55 tournaments held in a year, the obstacle lies not with the number of tournaments, but with the number of players — the number of new ones.

"The honest scenario of Bridge in the city is that it is dying because the youth is not ready to take it up," says Hema Deora, who is an international level Bridge player.

Dilip Gidwani, who has been playing Bridge for over 35 years, has a different perspective: "We have at least half a million people in the country who play Bridge, of which only 18 to 20,000 are registered with federations."

One of the main reasons is that most of them play Bridge socially and some don't even know that such federations exist. "Some of them consider card games taboo," says Ashok Bhawnani, honorary treasurer of the Contract Bridge Association (CBA).

This attitude will only change if there is a system of education, training and/or coaching put in place. The CBA is putting in extra effort to promote the sport amongst the city's younger population. "We have started academies for Bridge training and education with the help of a franchisee model," says Vaidya, who is also the general secretary of the CBA.

For instance, China has introduced Bridge education in their university programmes, in which at least half a million students learn it. "Even if 10 per cent of the same take it seriously, they are churning out a great number of players," says Gidwani.
There is lack of awareness and people need to know that card games also encourage the intellect. "It has been recognised in the USA, but that has to percolate in our country too," says Bhawnani.

The developmental programmes organised by the World Bridge Federation have worked well in countries that utilised its funds in an optimal way. "In India the programme has not been a great success because a very few players are involved in it," points Gidwani. But the story was different some 30 years ago. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) was the breeding ground for good Bridge players. "IIT used to churn out a good number of Bridge players. But that number is dwindling in terms of quality, as well as quantity," says Gidwani who himself is a former IITian.

For the time being, the present lot is in no mood to stay away from the game. Most of them are addicted to this card game. "It is such an addictive game that you can give up your work to play the game," says Dimal Sick who partners Hema Deora at various international competition. Dimal has
been playing bridge since 1975.

But there are people who are taking up Bridge at a very late age. "One can age gracefully while playing bridge," says Gidwani. If you are mentally fit you can play very good Bridge even at 70. Nobody will ask you about retiring from the game.

"As of today, Bridge is not a very young game. At the same time, bridge is the only game where one can learn at eight and keep playing it at 80," points out Vaidya.
s_gautam@dnaindia.net