Author: Jaideep Mazumdar on Ganesh Prasad
Chowrasia
Publication: Outlook
Date: February 25, 2008
URL: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080225&fname=Golf+%28F%29&sid=1
Introduction: A mali's son, SSP Chowrasia
is India's latest golfing sensation
With a family of eight to look after, Royal
Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) greens-keeper Ganesh Prasad Chowrasia could scarcely
afford the chicken or mutton dishes his youngest son was so fond of. Often,
disappointed with a vegetarian meal, the diminutive, soft-spoken kid would
stomp off from his dad's cramped, two-roomed quarters off RCGC's ninth green
to pursue his only passion: golf. Ganesh would scold his son for struggling
with golf clubs-he was barely a foot taller than a club at the time-instead
of maths, but no reproof was strong enough to tear him away from his putting.
But all that's history and the kid, now nearly
30, can indulge in all the culinary delights that money can buy, and much,
much more. Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia just won the $2.5-million Emaar MGF
Indian Masters, a European Tour event.
That's Rs 1.6 crore, the highest prize money
won by an Indian at home.
'Nepali', as Shiv is affectionately called
by his parents and siblings (a name brought on by the pronounced Mongoloid
features he had when young), has always been entranced by the game. "I
used to watch members (of the RCGC) play golf, and was attracted to the game
ever since I can remember. A golfer looks so smart and elegant," Shiv
Shankar Prasad (or SSP, as he prefers to be called nowadays) told Outlook.
His father, however, knew only too well it was a sport for the well-heeled
and would often try to steer Nepali back to his studies. "But he would
not be deterred," recalls eldest brother Vijay Prasad, who tends the
RCGC lawns.
Wearing a frayed, hand-me-down shirt and trousers,
SSP could be seen chipping and putting away around the ninth hole. "He
was so passionate about golf that he would occasionally, on nights, putt by
candlelight," recalls Vijay, also a professional golfer (he finished
third in the 1995 Wills Open) before he took up his dad's post after the latter's
retirement.
With four sons, three daughters, a wife and
a steady stream of relatives from Gauzpur, his native village in UP's Ghazipur
district, to feed, Ganesh Prasad could barely make ends meet on his meagre
salary of a few hundred rupees. "It wasn't that we had to go without
meals, but money was tight. As kids we mostly ate saag, vegetables and rotis-non-veg
food wasn't even a once-a-month indulgence," says Vijay. "We would
get new clothes only once a year. There was just one cot in the house and
we children slept on the floor. Our parents used to worry about our future,
especially over getting our sisters married off," adds Vijay. He eventually
gave up studies to become a caddie and supplement his dad's income. Younger
brothers Om Prakash and Sri Govind-who now take turns caddying for SSP-followed
suit. The extra income of the three brothers did help ease the family's monetary
situation, but even the sum total of the paltry salaries wasn't enough to
make life comfortable. Ganesh Prasad had thus, understandably, set his heart
on making his youngest son an "officer" in the government, to lift
the family out of poverty.
SSP, however, had found his metier. "While
holding a club as a kid, I knew that one day I'd be better than anyone playing
on these greens then. I knew I'd show everyone that I was the best. My talent
is God-gifted," he told Outlook. "As a kid, I used to trail barefoot
behind golfers, watching their moves and envying them," he adds. Close
friend Dilip Biswas, an RCGC caddie who often stays with SSP at his nearby
Bikramgarh flat (SSP purchased the 600-odd square feet apartment seven years
ago), told Outlook that to practise on the greens, SSP had "become an
expert at evading RCGC course superintendent Arthur Pereira." Pereira
and some others "would shoo off the children of the staff from the greens."
SSP's perseverance paid off and when he was
14, his dad allowed him to drop out of Class viii at the nearby Tollygunge
Hindi High School to pursue golf full-time.
That was in 1992. Within a year, his golfing
abilities caught the attention of club regulars and other caddies. "My
brother started caddying for the then RCGC captain Madan Singh, who recognised
his talent and gave him all encouragement," says Vijay. Neil Shaw, a
club member whom SSP now calls 'Babla uncle', gifted him his first set of
clubs. Jaydeep Chitlangia, another member who had early faith in his abilities,
financed the young golfer for many years. On February 10, Chitlangia was at
the Delhi Golf Club to witness his protege's victory. "What makes his
victory much more joyous is that SSP is a down-to-earth, humble and ever-smiling
person; a gem of a man," Chitlangia told Outlook.
SSP turned pro in 1997 and posted his first
success in 1999 when he tied at second place in the Indian Open. Since 1998,
he has already won over Rs 1 crore in various tournaments and titles, but
remains a simple person with no airs. One who hasn't forgotten his roots,
as is evident from the way he chats, jokes and fools around with his old buddies-the
caddies at the RCGC. He now sports designer labels and drives a spanking new
black Maruti Swift, but spends his happiest hours with his brothers, their
wives and their nine children at Vijay's three-room quarter near the 11th
hole.
How will he spend the prize money? SSP has
decided to set up a fund to help talented RCGC caddies become pros with a
portion of his prize money. He'll have to keep quite a large sum aside for
his European Tour (that'll cost him half a million dollars at least). "I'd
like to help out my dad and my brothers. I'll also have to save some of it."
And he's never forgotten his parents worrying themselves sick over his sisters'
marriages. Two of them are now married, but the youngest, Rita, will get married
at Gauzpur in June. And this, he promises, will be a wedding Gauzpur will
never forget.
