Of Bridge & Gifts

The pandemic has brought out the true colours of many amongst us. With lockdowns, travel restrictions, and especially with the virus mutating and being able to spread like wildfire, it has put a stop to many social and human interactions. 

Bridge is known as successively being the principal intellectual card game of the English-speaking countries. The socialites of Colombo as well as some serious-minded people who love this game play it all the time. With the onset of the pandemic playing Bridge online has become very popular amongst our players. It is understood that there is no gambling for major stakes amongst this Circle but the competitive angle of some of the players to achieve top position is wellknown amongst the Circle. In the Circle were a couple of women making great bids and achieving impossible wins. It did not take much time for the cyber savvy, wiser and more honest players to realise that these women were cheating big time by either phoning or WhatsApp(ing) their partner to discuss each other’s hands to play the game and win.  Many in the Circle are astounded as they thought they were playing Bridge with the self-identified crème de la crème in Colombo. Now that they have been found out, the gossip chain of Colombo is aware of these shameless culprits.

Another famous thing in Colombo is the nonsense of gift giving for no good reason. The funniest story was related to me by Trixie.  Her sister’s daughter owns a fabulous apartment in the heart of London. The apartment has a separate section for her close friends to stay in when visiting.  Many of our jet setters have the tendency of scrounging off people by creeping into their friend’s abodes. Enjoying such a free stay is quite fine if one does not overstay their welcome, which becomes a nuisance unless the visitor is very close to the host. Not to be outdone and to show gratitude to the friend they will come bearing gifts to appease the host. This host’s sister who is a sharpshooter and knows all about clothing, always has a look at the gifts her sister receives.  Many a time she has spotted that the gifted designer clothes are from outlet malls and the worst part was when some of them  had already been worn, washed and parcelled. This type of gift she found to be beyond shocking since the general visitor to her sister’s place is a person of means.  Stooping to gifting such items is not a requirement. It is better to visit empty handed than carry recycled clothing or other odd gifts that are of no use to any living soul.

Many a time she has spotted that the gifted designer clothes are from outlet malls and the worst part was when some of them had already been worn, washed and parcelled.  This type of gift she found to be beyond shocking since the general visitor to her sister’s place is a person of means.