Its 4:00 p.m. and am on my way to Raibidpura - a small village with a population of ~5000. This is a visit after close to 2 years - and am very excited.
What's so special about Raibidpura?
There are more than 200 bridge players - thats an amazing 4% of the population!! Undoubtedly the highest density in the world. A mind game that is considered to be elitist - being played on the streets and the roadside. And many of the players are illiterate!
The chief occupation at Raibidpura is agriculture. Almost everyone has a house in the village, and most have a piece of land they live off. A lot of residents are also teachers.
The Beginnings of a new Revolution
Thanks to Amresh, and many others, a new revolution is shaping up, hence the excitement. Amresh, with contributions from some bridge players, has set up a bridge club at Raibidpura. The club can house 40-50 players at any time. There are 5 laptops, a broadband connection and adequate power backup to allow the club to function even when there is no electricity.
There are 40 children from ages 9-15 who have started learning mini-bridge (a scaled down version of bridge specifically designed to take bridge to new players).
I am going to carry Amreesh's efforts forward - to facilitate the learning process.
What this blog is about?
This blog will document first hand experiences at Raibidpura focussed at Bridge related happenings.
What's so special about Raibidpura?
There are more than 200 bridge players - thats an amazing 4% of the population!! Undoubtedly the highest density in the world. A mind game that is considered to be elitist - being played on the streets and the roadside. And many of the players are illiterate!
The chief occupation at Raibidpura is agriculture. Almost everyone has a house in the village, and most have a piece of land they live off. A lot of residents are also teachers.
The Beginnings of a new Revolution
Thanks to Amresh, and many others, a new revolution is shaping up, hence the excitement. Amresh, with contributions from some bridge players, has set up a bridge club at Raibidpura. The club can house 40-50 players at any time. There are 5 laptops, a broadband connection and adequate power backup to allow the club to function even when there is no electricity.
There are 40 children from ages 9-15 who have started learning mini-bridge (a scaled down version of bridge specifically designed to take bridge to new players).
I am going to carry Amreesh's efforts forward - to facilitate the learning process.
What this blog is about?
This blog will document first hand experiences at Raibidpura focussed at Bridge related happenings.
No comments:
Post a Comment