Out of Bounds

Our joy knew no bounds when my husband received his first "acting assignment". We moved in to the Chulsa Burra Bungalow in the winter of 1997-98. The icing on the cake was that the Chulsa Polo Club (CPC) was within the Chulsa Tea Estate. I felt a bit guilty but it was after all my husband, Akhil who had encouraged me and thus had begun my love affair – with the game of golf.

My precious golf set

I would burst with life in the joy of driving past the lush green tea estates, my hands on the steering wheel of the Omni van – my mind enjoying the heady drive through the slopes of the tea factory crossing the creek through the freshly white-washed culvert. At first, I enjoyed my practice sessions alone. And then, destiny played its hand. Vaneet found his life partner Reshma and I now had her company to hone our golfing skills.

Soon, it became a ritual to pick Reshma up and head down the slope to the club to practice our golf shots. Naresh, the caddy had been entrusted with the task of coaching the memsaabs – a task he took seriously. “Sar neeche rakhna membsaab,” he would advise. “Follow through pura karna,” he would even reprimand us. We tweaked each swing following his directions and one after another, hit about 50 shots. We savoured a well-deserved swig of water while the chhokra retrieved the balls from the other end. The exercise continued.

Chulsa Polo Clubhouse

One January morning, we stood on the fairway, allowing the glistening sun to seep into our bones. There was a thrill in exerting ourselves to a new level. Despite the monotony, the repeated whacks of the golf balls infected us with warm, tingling happiness. The brilliant blue sky, vast open greens, chirping birds and us with our golf clubs and balls. It felt like freedom.

As we waited for the chhokras to retrieve the ball, we spotted three figures approaching towards us. As they emerged, we recognized the three assistants Vaneet, Afreen and Anirban who had parked their bikes in the VP nursery adjacent to the club. We now had not one, but four coaches imparting their golf expertise. “Loosen the left grip,” Vaneet said. “The ‘V’ of the thumb should point towards the inner right shoulder,” Anirban added. We continued the practice and could see the theory lessons making a difference in our game.

Practice swing

“Okay ma’am, a few more long drives,” said Afreen. “You have to keep looking at the tee even after striking the ball,” they instructed. After admiring the flight of the ball, we looked towards our trainers but lo and behold! To our amusement, they had vanished into thin air as if they were never there.

We cupped our palms and held them over our forehead against the radiant Monday morning sun. There was no sign of them. As we continued our visual search, we noticed a rising vortex of dust in the previously stagnant air. Sure enough, the three had managed to reappear at the VP nursery within the duration of a single swing.

Reshma and I looked at each other, both perplexed. We turned to Naresh. Nonchalantly, he pointed towards the blue gypsy passing by and said, “bada saab.”

A recent photo of Naresh, the caddy

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Glossary:

Acting assignment: First assignment as estate manager

Chhokra: Young lad

Long drives: A type of golf shot

Swing: Action of hitting the golf ball

VP nursery: Vegetative propagation nursery

Bada saab: Estate Manager

Sar neeche rakhna membsaab: Keep looking down, ma'am

Follow through pura karna: Complete the follow-through