Aces trump age as plucky Indian pensioner hopes for winning hand
Shuffling the deck was her favorite pastime as a kid. Now, as she approaches her 80s, cards have dealt Rita Choksi one of the greatest moments of her life.
The 79-year old will be India’s oldest competitor at the 18th edition of Asian Games when she sits down at the bridge table for the mixed pairs event in Jakarta.
The game is making its debut at the Aug 18-Sept 2 Asiad, and Choksi isn’t there just to make up the numbers.
“Others are also trying very hard to win, so God knows who is going to win. I’m hoping as long as I can manage my brain, my game will survive. Otherwise, only God knows,” she said.
A bridge player for over four decades, one of the secrets of Choksi’s success is her lifestyle.
Her days begin with yoga, exercises and a dose of
(traditional Hindu medicine), while a diet of fresh fruit and vegetables wards off the conditions that some of her peers are now struggling with.
“Well, right from the beginning I have always done yoga and I am taking ayurveda. I do my morning meditation and say my prayers. That helps me.
“And then I sleep early and wake up very early. So that means it keeps you fit,” said the young-at-heart pensioner.
Embracing the game’s online revolution has also been key to her longevity at the top level.
“I think it was a different kind of thinking in the past. Now you have to think much more professionally and also very carefully, because earlier people were not so strong but now everybody is strong, they think very carefully,” Choksi said.
“I practice not only with a partner, but I also enter the BBO (bridge base online, the game’s largest website), where there are lot of people. They show all the tournaments. Even Jakarta will be on BBO.
“The seniors, they are connected (through BBO) and you can see what all is happening. Sometimes I watch the senior players from America or the Middle East or wherever. Some of them are very senior.”
India’s 24-member team has an average age of 60, with four in their 70s.
So, can being older actually be an advantage in this game? Choksi nodded in the affirmative.
“It’s not just experience only, you have got to use your mind.
“You have to study all the conventions of all different countries.
“Twelve conventions are recognized so far. So we have to go through what China is playing, what Japan is playing, what the Philippines is playing, what Indonesia is playing.”
In her younger days, racket sports and acting on stage occupied Choksi’s time.
“I was a badminton player (at national level) and also a table tennis player. But later I discovered bridge and it is a mental thing like chess. So I felt that if I use my brain into something, I would like to play bridge,” she said.
“As I got older and older, I felt that I could concentrate more on it, even at home to read something and instruction on how to manage new things in bridge.
“There are more new things that happen in bridge, not the old ones. So it is interesting.”
Choksi said she owes everything to the game. She met her husband at a tournament. He first became her bridge partner and later her life partner.
Since her husband’s death, Choksi has lived alone at her home in Delhi, spending four to five hours a day playing bridge — online or offline.
As she puts it, cards might not have been her first love but they will certainly be her last.
Despite collecting accolades the world over in the game, the nerves are building for the Asiad.
“I will tell God, ‘Please, help next time,’ she said.
“It can be possible. You never know what is going to happen.”
79, will go for glory in mixed pairs bridge at the Asian Games in Jakarta.