The Hindu: Shift in gears

by V. V SUBRAHMANYAM

It has been a highly satisfying change over from the field hockey to golf

There is life after hockey! Former centre-half of Indian Railways hockey team, Ajay Bharti has decided to chart his course on the greens in golf and is making a big impact too. For, this 40-year-old from South Central Railway is now a member of the Indian Railways team for the third World Railways men’s Usic golf championship to be held in Vichy (France) from September 21 to 25. “It has been a highly satisfying change over from field hockey to golf. I was quite familiar with this sport too, as part of our hockey team’s preparations we used to get a feel of the greens at IRISET,” says Bharti, who was one of the finest forwards of South Central Railway team in his hey days.“The SCR golfers owe a lot to the then SCR general manager Sinha who developed the nine-hole course at IRISET (Tarnaka). It was he who made an offer to all those interested in golf and supported our passion,” says a grateful Bharti. “I love golf as much I did hockey. But again being an individual sport, it gives me a chance to showcase my talent and skills which was not the case in hockey as there was always a scope for partiality on the field as sometimes you were left far behind and not fed with passes,” explains the former Indian Railways player who was a member of the team which finished runner-up to Indian Airlines in the Senior Nationals for the Rangaswamy Cup in 2002.

Bharti, who married one of the outstanding woman athletes from India J. J. Shobha, and blessed with two kids Dakshita and Veda, is keen to leave his mark in the World Railways meet. “It is not going to be difficult as everyone knows it requires extreme levels of focus. But, having seen the rough and tumble and come the hard way, I am pretty confident of putting up a decent performance in France,” says Bharti, now a Deputy Chief Ticket Inspector in SCR. For someone who shuddered to think of playing golf which he thought was an expensive proposition, Bharti dared to pick up a club in 2006 – from a second hand kit he purchased to try his hand on the greens. “That was just the beginning. Well, being a sportsperson, we are used to all these ups and downs both on and off the field. But, I am glad that we have been able to prove a point or two,” says Bharti. “To have someone like Shobha as a life-partner is a huge blessing. On occasions when I tend to take it easy and try to skip the daily morning training schedule, it was she who coaxes me insisting that unless we train daily, we can’t be champions,” says Bharti gently reminding that Shobha herself is back on tracks in her comeback bid. What are your goals now? “I follow the simple dictum – enjoy what you do. And, in the process hope to make a mark in golf too after an immensely satisfying hockey career. I can tell you for any athlete after retirement, golf presents a wonderful opportunity to be in sports for it has no age bar,” he signs off with a big smile.