Your Favourite Traveling Companion

The trip to Goa was a lot of fun. I, Guthi, Ashok and Vinoth constituted the bridge team and we had to think of a team name. We considered "Chennai Super Jacks", but settled for "Chennai Knaves" (for the uninitiated, the Jack is also called the Knave in card games). Although we didn't do as well as we would have liked, Ashok and Vinoth in particular having some pretty forgettable sessions, our past performances pulled their weight and Guthi and I got selected for India's U-28 team to Beijing for the World Mind Games. Vinoth got into the U-26 team (think of it as an event for all the 'B' teams... but don't tell Vinoth I said that :P) and Ashok didn't make it. Six players were selected for each team, so India's junior bridge contingent alone is going to come up to twelve players.

In case that didn't sink in,

YOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I'm going to be playing for our Nation at the biggest bridge tournament in the whole wide world!!!

Unlike the Bombay tournament in Jan when I was meeting most of the junior players for the first time, this time we were more familiar with each other, having also played with and against each other online a few times. So the conversations were more relaxed and informal, a lot of joking and leg-pulling and bridge talk. All in all it was good fun and I got to know the entire junior bridge circle in India. Because the tournament turn out was lower than what the organizers had hoped for (only about 23 people turned out but this time almost all of them were decent players, minimum), we had the final day off and the Bridge Federation of India was nice enough to rent a tourist van at their cost and we went sightseeing, a bunch of about 15 bridge geeks visiting Goa's beaches with conversations sounding for the most part like "... so I bid 6 spades and dummy turned up with king jack ten small of trumps and...". It rained a lot that day so it wasn't as fun as it could have been; it would start pouring hard just as we arrived at some really scenic beach and we would be stuck in the van. Still, it was a new experience for me, and a pleasant one.

Somethings, of course, don't change. When we went to Bombay, my team mates forgot to bring something or the other and I was the supplier, be it a pen or a laptop or a water bottle or shaving foam or shampoo. I would be the first to wake up and get ready, and occasionally had to goad a guy or two into getting ready on time for the game. My parents, of course, would never believe that I am the most responsible one of the bunch; my Mom always tells Guthi to remind me to take my tablets on time but never once did I actually need reminding. Anyway, things were no different this time. As soon as we entered the train I informed them that I'd brought breakfast and lunch packed for the journey, with my Mom's expertise ensuring that the food would keep till whatever time it was meant to be eaten (her expertise also ensuring the food was delicious, duh!). Accompanying the food was several water bottles, juices, chips and other munchies. When it turned out that two of them had come without having had dinner yet, I told them not to worry as there were a couple of extra food packets for just such a situation. Finally, after we reached the venue and slept and woke up, Guthi realized that he'd forgotten to bring his towel. When I said, "Don't worry, I brought an extra towel as well," he started laughing, "What didn't you bring!!".

The towel was a source of some more amusement as he didn't want to stuff in the dirty towel with the rest of his things in the backpack and instead put it in the very visible side pouch meant for water bottles. So you can imagine what he looked like, lugging a huge hiking-style backpack with the towel sticking out from one side and a water bottle on the other side. All he needed was a book saying "DONT PANIC" in large friendly letters and I'd be expecting him to thumb down passing UFOs.

Ready to blast the opposition? From Left: Rishabh, Vinoth, Myself, Anurag

Also snapped near the St. Francis Cathedral

Nice snap considering I shot it from inside a moving vehicle, on the way to Anjuna Beach

The teams:

U-28: Aniket, Sapan, Myself, Guthi, Sandip, Pravin. 7th man: Prasenjit.

U-26: Anurag, Ayan, Dashu, Rishabh, Vinoth, Karan.

Cheers,
Prashanth.