card parties are that element of diwali festivities which is part tradition and part an opportunity for socialisation over the years they have come to be synonymous with the festival every year we head over to our friends and familys places or invite them over to get together and play teen patti or rummy or even poker of late but as has been the case with pretty much everything this year 2020 has caused that to change with covid cases steadily on the rise many people are still wary of too much social mingling but diwali card parties have not vanished this season like office meetings school and exams they too have shifted online most online card games and apps give users options to create private rooms and chat which users are utilising to host virtual card parties for the diwali seasonduring the lockdown many people turned to online games and apps including a number of card games and their familiarity with these apps is coming in handy now as they are creating private rooms and hosting virtual parties through them in the festive season mumbaibased businessman rajat katoch says i used to attend about half a dozen card parties around diwali every year this year that has shifted online all my different circles and groups are hosting their versions of the party online we just create a private room on the app where we can play in privacy and even chat its almost like a real party the important thing is to keep socialising and not lose the camaraderie and banter many people are combining social media apps they are comfortable with to complement the gaming experience arundhati singh a homemaker from lucknow tells us my friends and i connect on skype or zoom after creating our room this way we dont have to type out when we want to chat it feels more like a gathering when we can see and hear each other even if it is just virtuallymost online card games and apps give users options to create private rooms and chat which users are utilising to host virtual card parties for the diwali seasonthe social butterflies have their virtual festive card party calendar chockablock delhibased entrepreneur twisha nandi says i would say this has expanded my social circle as i met and connected with newer people through the games my festive calendar is booked as i am attending virtual card parties on dhanteras diwali and then sunday as well i hosted a private rummy game for friends and family on dussehra too and while the games may be virtual people are still spending a considerable amount of time and effort to dress up and look good for the party pritish a tech entrepreneur from gurgaon says my wife and i connect with our friends over video calls while we play the game for our festive card parties all of us dress up and sit as we would if it were a regular party why should