Ek Do Teen Patti anyone???

So, I have been told by my children that Teen Patti is now very passé and the new game to play is Poker  but be that as it may I am a Teen  Patti player through and through. We went through a phase many years ago where Vinay , myself and 3 couple friends started playing 21 cards rummy. I think this must have lasted for at least three years as I remember we started taking out money from every winning hand and making a kitty. It’s amazing how fast the money increases considering the low stakes we used to play. Anyway we collected enough to pay for a holiday to Kathmandu… twice. It used to be such a thrill and we started playing 3-4 times a week just to supposedly “ collect money for the kitty”! Kathmandu was lovely at that time and we had a fantastic time gambling in the casino but more than that just sitting and talking and laughing till the wee hours of the morning. Nowadays even the rummy we played has gone extinct. There are all sorts of variations like closed jokers, 27 cards and I even heard of some people playing 31 cards!! How on earth do they manage to hold that many cards is beyond belief!! Whether it’s old fashioned or whatever you call it we really enjoy our teen patti games and since the stakes are low there is no tension in the air and our games are punctuated with lots of food and innumerable cups of tea and coffee. There is always great excitement if anyone manages to get a trio and the obligatory photograph is taken which then becomes the dp for the group. We all juggle our schedules around if anyone suggests a game but nowadays we only manage a couple of games a month. 

When my mother in law was alive she used to love playing a game called 28. In this you needed four people and you would have teams of two. Certain cards were worth different values and the dealer dealt 4 cards each and you had to bid on how many points you thought your team could make. It’s a bit of a dummy’s version of bridge but since it is not so serious it was great fun and we would happily play with her for hours. She would always be looking for 3 people to play with and kept a pack of cards by her side handy. I used to come back from the office at about 1.30 ish in time for when the children came home from school but she would be sitting waiting for me with my 2 sisters in law and would sit me down straight away. I only used to have fruit for lunch so I would eat that whilst we played. I couldn’t even go up to meet the children until we had played for about an hour and it was her nap time. It was hilarious. Mind you she was very fussy about who she played with. You had to focus on the game and you could not take a phone call during the time we played. She also hated people  who played slowly or not so well and my younger sister in law fell into that category so she was only called if we were one player short. Vinay’s eldest brother always used to joke with Maa and tell her her that she should have had 6 sons instead of 3 so that there would always be 3 on hand to play and when they finished the other 3 could take over!!! 

I never really played cards before I got married other than the usual childhood games of bluff or fish. However I think cards run in the Goenka genes and being able to play is the true initiation into the family! Vinay and I play rummy when we go on holiday together for huge stakes but regardless to say not a rupee exchanges hands!!

We learnt a new game when we went to Goa with our friends called Chakri where 6 players play with 2 teams of 3 each. This is also great fun but I still don’t think we play with the correct rules as they seem to change on every trip. However since no money is involved it doesn’t really matter and we all enjoy ourselves which is most important. 

I had a Chachi called Suman Chachi who lived in Manchester and she loved gambling. Black Jack was her game of choice and she and my Chacha would go to the casino very often to play. In fact if you rang her in the middle of the night she would be up and ready to play! Whenever we used to go to Manchester she would always offer to take us to the casino and one time we went and sat at the table with the lowest stakes but after losing fifty pounds decided to call it a day and sat and enjoyed the free drinks they offered. Uncle Jitu and Suman Chachi had gone on a cruise one year and she won so much in the casino one night that the next day when they docked she went to a jewellery shop and bought jewellery for her granddaughters!!! Once when Mummy was in Kolkata with us Suman Chachi came to visit and Mummy was extremely worried that she be kept occupied and didn’t get bored. So Vinay organised a game of rummy with his friends and she was the only female amongst them. They were secretly laughing amongst each other that they would all win little knowing that she would take them to the cleaners!! She ended up the only winner and tried inviting them to play again the next day. Needless to say everyone suddenly had very important meetings at the office so no one was available!

During Covid times we started playing gin rummy, which is like an open version of rummy, with Neha and Vivek. Now even Siya and Vivaan have learnt so whenever we can find an evening where all six of us are free we plan a cards evening together. Even Mummy used to enjoy gin rummy and I remember one holiday we had gone to Bali and we all used to play by the swimming pool in one of the cabanas. As there were limited cabanas it was Vinay’s job to go and block one as soon as he got up. 

What lovely memories I have with something as simple as a couple of packs of cards. I think that the most important thing is that I was playing with loved ones be it family or friends. What I wouldn’t give to play another hand with Maa or Mummy 😟