A Golf Story
A Golf Story
A Golf Story
One of New Delhi's most popular and happening landmark - the Delhi Golf Club - has become the muse of veteran golfer P. Surendra Prasad's debut novel, "One in Four: One Day Magic and Mayhem on Golf Course" that was released this week by Union minister Farooq Abdullah, who is also an avid golfer.
Set against the picturesque Golf Club in the capital, the humorous book which uses the sprawling green teeing ground as its locale for its cast of four sassy septuagenarians, who are well past the peak of their athletic excellence, but are determined in their pursuit of the perfect birdie. Each old man has his story to tell- mostly about their mishits, miscues and tall tales about their heroism.
The reader learns about one of the character, (Mr Scout)'s dalliances with apple-cheeked caddies, the contentious debate between two old teeing pals, Suri and Ansari on matters of food and drink and Patnaik's second marriage ordained by the stars. (Ping K15 Irons)
It is a magical day with balls that would not fly and things going off the rockers".
But at the end of the day, magic prevails on the four ageing heroes and grants them a "fortunate encounter with the club sweetheart- the lovely Susan, a socialite."
The book has been published by Westland Ltd, East-West Books and the Tranquebar Press.
For writer P. Surendra Prasad, "it was easier to write a book on golf as there were others working towards addressing the problem of global warming."
"I decided to stick to the job on hand. If you really want to test your mental dexterity, try manoeuvring the ball out of the rough of the 14th hole of the Golf Club of Delhi, while trying to figure out whether the lovely Susan should feature in the climax of the novel or be left unattended (unresolved) in chapter six. But writing, much like golf offers a sweet reward to the faithful. I enjoyed it," the writer, who has been playing at the Delhi Golf Club for several decades, said in an interview.
According to Prasad, "the book is not just about golf". "This book is about people who go around the golf course masquerading as golfers. It is about fun and life and the spirit that breathes in every lover of golf," Prasad said.
The book, which incorporates an element of magic realism, as the writer says, is much like the game itself.
"Golf has such a unique charm that an exposure to the game seems to be magical in itself. The uncertainties of the game and the fluctuations of fortunes in the game appear to be magical. The same player with apparently the same swing would produce different results on different days. (Callaway RAZR X IronsThe player would sink a long put on one hole and miss a very short put on the hole just following that.The same holds goods for all other shots in the game. If this is not magic what else is?" Prasad said.
The writer said he was not inspired by Bollywood. "The movie industry attempts to create thrill in three hours that a golfer feels every minute on the course. But every fiction needs some drama - that could be the book's association with Bollywood," Prasad said.
The Delhi Golf Club is vital to Prasad's "sense of well being".
"It is an oasis in the heart of the city. But I would like to state that the story does not relate to the Delhi Golf Club as such- it becomes the venue in a fiction writer's imagination," he said.
Golf, as a game, has undergone a sea change in India, Prasad said.
"The prize money has increased considerably resulting in many talented golfers taking up the game as a professional. Earlier it was a game confined to the higher echelons of society and was slightly elitist in nature. There was hardly any money in it even for the champions. Earlier, the best golfers in the country were working people and could devote to golf only such time as their work would allow. (Taylormade R9 Forged Irons) Billoo Sethi, Vikramjit Singh, Alan Singh, Ashok Malik and other former greats could have risen to much success had they been able to devote themselves to just the game," Prasad said, analyzing the trend of the game.
The new crop of golfers in India, Prasad said, "was very promising".
"Educated boys from affluent families are taking up the game as their profession and therefore they are exposed to the best training, technique and playing conditions possible. It is only a matter of time before one of them dethrones the reigning kings of the sport," the writer said.
Prasad's favorite golf course if "of course, the Delhi Golf Course".
"I live in Delhi and the Delhi Golf Club really is like a second home to me. It has a history that few courses around the world can boast of. I have played in lots of other courses, but the Delhi Golf Club is my Mecca of Golf," the writer said.
Prasad is currently working on a novel around a "feudal family of the olden days entering public life trying to live with their conviction and the challenges that present themselves to them," he said.
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