It turns out that while plenty of those Hollywood losers types can be spotted on ‘Celebrity Poker’ (Tobey Macguire, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Alexander etc), the people who really run the world play Bridge. We’re talking Bill Gates and Warren Buffet who are mad for the game. Add my hubby and his dad to that VIP list.
S & his dad have figured out a unique way to stay connected. Every Saturday and Sunday morning like clockwork, while the rest of us are doing regular weekend stuff, S and his dad set themselves up on a comfy couch with their laptops, and log into an online Bridge players’ website and partner-up on a few rounds of Bridge. My father-in-law has moved around quite a bit in the past year – from being in a couple of different zipcodes in India to now living in Jakarta, but this routine hasn’t changed for as long as I have known S. As I walk around the house, doing random chores like laundry, I watch S chuckling at a hand and then swearing at another and frantically typing some sort of strategy messages to his dad for the forthcoming hand. And while I have all the reasons to be biased and absolutely no knowledge of Bridge, it seems like the caliber of play is pretty extraordinary and what we have here is a winning duo (check out the photo with Mr Gates at an Atlanta Bridge tourney where S represented the UCLA bridge team).
Anyway, the point here is not to brag about what fantastic Bridge players these guys are, but to marvel at this amazing way to stay connected. Most of us call our parents a couple of times a week or visit them when we can but I’m truly impressed at the unique bonding routine that these guys have come up with. They exercise their little grey cells, regularly spend time with each other without physically being in the same place, and every game has a different twist so no one experience is like any other. For the duration of the game, any sort of generation gap disappears. There’s nothing blah about it. I’m pretty sure that this tradition will be observed 10, 20, 30 years from now with the same love and enthusiasm for the game. Amen. I have to admit that I am mildly jealous of all the Bridge fun that I witness every weekend morning and that I secretly wish I could be part of a shared interest like this, with my parents. My dad & I enjoy writing letters but I’m guilty of not replying to a lot of his emails. At least not with the effort and with the details that I ought to. Tsk. I should really work that into my weekend routine.
I’ve decided that when I have a kid of my own, I will follow suit (pun intended). It would be great to teach her/him something of this sort, that we can both enjoy over time and stay connected.
Until then, I will live vicariously through these guys.
S & his dad have figured out a unique way to stay connected. Every Saturday and Sunday morning like clockwork, while the rest of us are doing regular weekend stuff, S and his dad set themselves up on a comfy couch with their laptops, and log into an online Bridge players’ website and partner-up on a few rounds of Bridge. My father-in-law has moved around quite a bit in the past year – from being in a couple of different zipcodes in India to now living in Jakarta, but this routine hasn’t changed for as long as I have known S. As I walk around the house, doing random chores like laundry, I watch S chuckling at a hand and then swearing at another and frantically typing some sort of strategy messages to his dad for the forthcoming hand. And while I have all the reasons to be biased and absolutely no knowledge of Bridge, it seems like the caliber of play is pretty extraordinary and what we have here is a winning duo (check out the photo with Mr Gates at an Atlanta Bridge tourney where S represented the UCLA bridge team).
Anyway, the point here is not to brag about what fantastic Bridge players these guys are, but to marvel at this amazing way to stay connected. Most of us call our parents a couple of times a week or visit them when we can but I’m truly impressed at the unique bonding routine that these guys have come up with. They exercise their little grey cells, regularly spend time with each other without physically being in the same place, and every game has a different twist so no one experience is like any other. For the duration of the game, any sort of generation gap disappears. There’s nothing blah about it. I’m pretty sure that this tradition will be observed 10, 20, 30 years from now with the same love and enthusiasm for the game. Amen. I have to admit that I am mildly jealous of all the Bridge fun that I witness every weekend morning and that I secretly wish I could be part of a shared interest like this, with my parents. My dad & I enjoy writing letters but I’m guilty of not replying to a lot of his emails. At least not with the effort and with the details that I ought to. Tsk. I should really work that into my weekend routine.
I’ve decided that when I have a kid of my own, I will follow suit (pun intended). It would be great to teach her/him something of this sort, that we can both enjoy over time and stay connected.
Until then, I will live vicariously through these guys.
5 comments:
You write well girl! and more importantly am thoroughly impressed with this Bridge fever! And I always thought the ToI bridge games were for nerds, perhaps thats true still...but this is supreme! Kudos to Saurabh and Dad!
Nice article. S is definetly a nerd but you too are very creative. I like your style of narration and of course the topic too is really interesting. However, I want to point out that you share your interest of theatre with your parents..maybe not an every weekend affair but still there is something you share and is unique to your family. Overall you both are a very interesting couple. Keep writing and sharing. It's sure fun to read.
Thanks for the kind comments you guys! Your encouragement gets me excited to write my next one. So happy to know my ideas aren't getting lost in cyberspace, someone actually reads and enjoys them. Looking at the blog traffic stats gets me super excited.
@Surabhi: thanks for stopping by and thanks for the love!
@Sri: thx, you nailed it. We all inherit skills and passions from our folks, but it is up to us to keep that connection intact. It's one of the reasons I got back to writing my blog. I might not stick with it forever, life has a way of getting crazy and unpredictable, but my dad loves writing and I feel I am having a conversation with him or a close friend when I blog.
Hope you'll stay tuned ! :)
Love your blog Anku...I agree specially when kids grow up and it is hard to find things to stay connected to them.This is definitely a unique way.
I dread the day when my boys will grow up and move out....will miss them so much!Wish I find something like this to be a part of their lives:)
What a novel idea! I didn't think of something this cool. Man..this is definitely to emulate.
Thanks for not giving up blogging :D
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