HANGZHOU: They belong to different generations. One predates independent India, the other born in the new millennium. Both come from opposite social and cultural backgrounds. Their hobbies, taste for food and liking to songs are different. One likes to hear ghazals and Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi’s songs, the other peppy Bollywood music. But it’s the beautiful game of bridge which has helped Bharati Dey, 77, and Vidhya Patel, 21, ‘bridge’ the generational gap between them.
Vidhya wasn’t even born when Bharati was establishing herself as the country’s leading bridge player on the international circuit. At the Hangzhou Asian Games, the two have been spearheading the country’s campaign in the sport in the women’s team event. Bharati is the oldest member in the 655-member strong Indian contingent which is participating at the Asiad, while 12 of other teammates are above 60. Vidhya is the baby of the bridge squad. Bharati had played in Jakarta 2018 as well, but at that time, she wasn’t the oldest. Her teammate, Vasanth Shah, held the record at 77 years.
“Bharati mam is like a grandmother to me and a guiding light. Her unwavering spirit and competitiveness at this stage of her age is what has inspired me the most,” Vidhya said. Bharati, on her part, described the youthful energy and enthusiasm of Vidhya as reasons for her to feel younger. “I am not old, who says that? Young kids like Vidhya never make me feel older. I act like a guardian to her. We might be separated by generations, but when it comes to bridge, we share the same love and passion.”
Bridge is the ultimate trick-taking card game that four people can have with a pack of cards sitting opposite one another. The game uses a basic playing deck of 52 cards. It’s recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but is yet to be included in the Summer Games.
Bharati and Vidhya come from vastly different financial backgrounds. Bharati, originally from Mumbai who shifted to Kolkata after her marriage to a banker husband, has a son and a daughter settled in Sydney and Auckland and keeps visiting them during her free time from bridge duties for India. Vidhya, on the other hand, hails from a remote village of Raibidpura – with a population size of 5000 people – located in the district headquarters of Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone. Her father is a farmer and her mother a housewife.
While Bharati started playing the sport for fun back in the 80s, Vidhya took to bridge because it gave her an opportunity to explore the world outside her village. “It was in 1985 when I first participated in an Open House bridge competition in Kolkata. That was my first brush with the sport. Later, I shifted to Dubai in 1985 where I participated in an international mixed team event and finished with a silver. I played my first Summer Nationals in Chennai and won a medal. The same year I competed in Winter Nationals in Puri and won gold. It’s been a long journey for me and the sport, which I started as part of my leisure activity, has now become my full-time profession,” Bharati said.
Vidhya took us back to the year 1965, when a veterinarian doctor, Mohamed Zia Khan, introduced the card game to her village people which since then has become a popular pastime among the young and elders alike. Later, former India player Amresh Deshpande from Pune visited their village a few years back and set up a ‘Kisan Bridge Club’ there.
“There are 200 players who play bridge in the club but none of them have played the sport at a competitive level. My school friend and teammate in the women’s event here, Kalpana Gurjar, and I are the first ones from the village to represent India internationally. We have been to junior world bridge championships in 2017 and 2018 and have even won a silver in an under-26 girls’ event in pairs in Paris in 2022. This is our first Asian Games and we are happy to be a part of this wonderful family,” Vidhya said.
She informed that it was Deshpande who took her to Ahmedabad for further training and exposure which helped her evolve as a serious player. “Deshpande sir has a huge role to play in my career. But I would also like to thank our present coach, Vinay Desai sir, who has been a pillar of strength to me. I have been training under him for three years,” she added.
