Sitting with over a hundred people clustered around red felt-top tables, this enthusiast played a game that was neither the fabled Diwali matka of teen patti, nor Contract Bridge, but one that required as much skill as luck, or perhaps more.
An American card game is drawing Indians of a certain disposition to casino boats in Goa: whizkids who insist that it’s a game almost entirely of skill
TCA Raghavan is a former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and Singapore. His first book, Attendant Lords: Abdur Rahim and Bairam Khan: Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India, was awarded the Mohammad Habib Prize by the Indian History Congress. He is also the author of The People Next Door: The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan and History Men: Jadunath Sarkar, G S Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh and Their Quest for India’s Past. His latest book is Circles of Freedom: Love, Friendship and Loyalty in the Indian National Struggle