V N Ramamoorthy
Ladies and Gentlemen
"A Beehive of Bridge Buddies on cloud nine!"
Last weekend, I witnessed this scene of buzzing bridge buddies partaking in a live tourney at Kodaikanal
4 teams comprising a bevy of a dozen beautiful ladies and four men - all entering a live tourney for the first time with excitement, trepidation and child-like enthusiasm 🙂
At the centre of it all was the "Queen Bee" - sorry, King Bee - their proud coach, Narayana Iyer with his own queen bee Aparajitha in tow.
Two to three years of on line coaching and the buddies were ready to test the waters of a real-time live tourney 😌
Among the 16 teams of 100 odd players on a hunt for the waiting honey at the podium, the bridge buddies were buzzing around with gay abandon. Without a worry for a win or loss, with the sole aim of pleasing their coach, to get his nod of approval- nothing else mattered!
I was impressed by their knowledge of traditional systems. They were not only conversant with the ABCs, and gadgets like Michael's, Jacoby and Drury but also the latest XYZ!
The butterflies among the buddies were of different temperament alright 👌
From fire-brand Amulya - Malini, studious Pooja - Kavita, ebullient Anita - Somna to ever quiet " Her Master's voices Rajshri, Tanuja & Hema, backed by worker bees Nirav, Linesh, Jai and Durai.
Yes the Buddies have arrived. With time and exposure, they will climb to cloud 10 and 11 ....
Sooner than later!
The game of Bridge needs more buddies 🙂
Happy bridging,
Cheers
VNR
Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.