One of the most colorful personalitues of Indian bridge, Bimal Sicka, faded away today and moved on.
She made a difference to Indian bridge, especially in the 80's and 90's. To give an example, she was responsible for bringing the Bengalis into mainstream commercial bridge in the 80's. She would put them up, pay their Entry Fee, travel by train, and hospitality, especially for the big ticket money events, like the All India Orkay Tournaments ,held in Bombay in the 80s. So many of them. She gave the first taste of big money and commercial blood to the gentlemen from the rossogola land. The scores of Bengal tigers you see today prancing the jungles of indian and international bridge, commanding hefty remunerations, owe their genesis to the likes of Bimal. A pioneer.
No tribute to Bimal would be complete without alluding to her gastronomical fondness. She was a veritable foodie. Bimal lived to eat ! Every city we played in for scores of years, the first thing Bimal would do was research and pinpoint the famous local eateries, like the Wadiyar restaurant in Colombo, Sri Lanka. During breaks, our first point ot contact with the city would be the local chatwala, for golgappas, panipuris or puchkas ( depending on where you were). That was her check in.
I recall in 1988, we were playing the Nationals in the godforsaken town of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, on the East Coast. Suddenly Bimal comes up and says, "Keep your evening free, I have a treat for you". The then President of the Bridge Federation of Indis, the late Kamalakara Rao, had organized a spread exclusively for her, of the legendary spicy Andhra crabs, massive ones and prawns the size of tennis balls. That was the clout Bimal commanded and her Foodie reputation preceded her.
Bimal was known for her organizational skills, which were par excellence. She represented India in several Womens championships, winning quite a few of 'em, with her regular partner, rhe late Shaila Mahajan, besides winning a lot of Open championships, at local, state and national level, playing with another regular partner, the late Ratanlal Kejriwal.
She had very strong preferences , and as with most outstanding personalities, she had her share of admirers and detractors.
She was one of the doyens of Bombay bridge, womens bridge and nationals too. Often, she was the trouble shooter and spin doctor at many a national tournanent.
She is leaving behind very strong nemories. I was fortunate to be associated with and to be on her right side. _
Dr. Subir Roy
" For when the One Great Scorer comes
To mark against your name,
He writes - not that you won or lost -
But HOW you played the Game."
- Grantland Rice
All things apart,*Bimal played fairly for sure. One of her favorite comments (courtesy P. Sridhar was ) “ thinking is essential in auction, but when RHO thinks and LHO bids …”! Hey Bimal, we miss you.
May Your Soul Rest In Peace 🙏
She also was very generous in helping people in need in the Bridge circuit. We do hope that people she had helped acknowledge her support to them. Personally, she did support me at a time which seemed difficult for me by providing me a laptop and making me pay for it by doing some work for her. It was a gesture that will always remain in my mind. I was a regular partner of hers during the last several years of her life when she stopped sponsoring teams and I can vouch that the generosity mentioned above continued right into her last days - Sukrit Vijayakar
Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.
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very sad news, RIP 🙏🙏🙏