Kidambi Sridharan remembers his freedom-fighter father, Nagari Varadachari, playing bridge at the club associated with the Bar Association in the then Madras Presidency. Later on Sridharan began playing bridge with his sister, Vaidehi, now residing in Winnipeg, Canada. On joining the famous Parry’s, he once again got the chance to play the game in a number of clubs in Chennai and the rest of the country. Post 1968, Sridharan got associated with Coimbatore, and he began to play at the clubs in Coimbatore during his visits here.

On quitting Parry’s, he moved to Coimbatore in 1985, and thereafter he began to play bridge with veterans like Vetrivel Mudaliar, A.R. Jagannathan, and N. Damodaran at the Cosmopolitan Club. Later on, the group shifted to the Coimbatore Bridge Association, thanks to G.K. Sundaram – the greatest patron of the game in those days.

“G.K. Sundaram, of Lakshmi Mills, used to host his bridge-playing friends at his Courtallam guesthouse during the season. He simply loved the game and A.R.Jagannathan reached great heights in the world of Bridge,” states Sridharan, who is an author and poet as well.

Sridharan is also a member of the American Contract Bridge League, and has played the game in a number of cities abroad. He has also composed two poems on the game – ‘The Mood of the Bridger’ and ‘The Enigmatic Queen.’

The Kidambi’s bidding guide is a runaway hit. It consists of two packs of cards – one pack has 52 bridge conventions, while the other has 52 maxims on bridge. Most recently Kidambi Sridharan mentored over two dozen enthusiasts and turned them into bridge regulars, reviving the game.

“Bridge is a wonderful game, and is even played by kids. Its keep one away from Alzheimer’s disease, and many of the players live a ripe old age. I’m happy to admit that I have now trained and motivated college-going girls to play bridge in the age of Twitter and Whatsapp,” shares a delighted Sridharan.