Artist/sculptor Hemi Bawa breezes into the room and apologises for being late for our morning meeting. She isn't late, I am early for our appointment but Bawa is the kind of person who takes her mornings seriously. She says, "I am the kind of person who wants to do everything in the morning." And one of the things that she included in her packed mornings was golf, a passion that she picked up almost 30 years ago. | |
| "We had gone to Gulmarg in the summer and there was a beautiful golf course. That's how I became interested in golf," she remembers. The environs, as in the lush green course that is so integral to golf, is one of the reasons that the game has become such an addiction for her. |
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| Bawa describes golf as a "mind cleanser" and attributes this aspect as the reason that this game is so addictive to those who play it. "I tried tennis but it didn't suit me. Different sports suit different personalities. Golf suits my personality," she says with a broad smile. |
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| She cautions against thinking of golf as a game that is sedentary or for old people. Trying to dispel such thoughts, she says, "Golf is quite physical. A lot of people use golf carts when playing but I enjoy the walking. It requires physical strength and I am an active person." |
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| Activity for her includes working on her feet making her glass sculptures, and painting too requires standing around rather than sitting in comfort in a plush chair. Then there is Isha yoga that she follows and a swim that she follows her golf up with in the summer. This is not bad going for someone who has grown-up children and has seen many a summer pass-by. |
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| Her passion for the sport though "" "would rather be on the golf course than anywhere else" "" hasn't translated into following golfing events obsessively. "I prefer playing to watching the game. Once I did watch Tiger Woods play, and I found it thoroughly enjoyable, but for me golf is very personal," she says. |
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| That is also reflected in her choice of playing partners. "I don't have a fixed four-ball. I play with whoever is there at the course. But there are also times that I enjoy playing the game alone. It's so calming and it sorts you out in a way." And even though her husband and son are also keen golfers, the family usually plays separately. Hemi and her husband, though, have been on golfing holidays in the FarEast with friends. |
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| Ask her about her favourite golf course and she demurs and says that she hasn't played in that many different ones (she plays most regularly at the Delhi Golf Club, a short drive from her residence) but still mentions the course in Srinagar as being "so beautiful". As an artist, aesthetics perhaps plays an important role in drawing Bawa to certain courses over others. |
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| Does golf in anyway influence her art? "Well, I don't come back from the golf course and paint trees but golf does help the mind, it's so therapeutic. It helps the state of one's mind." Bawa started painting at a young age and found her teachers and family encouraging her to pursue it in a serious enough way. |
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| Today, her time is pretty much divided between her studio and the golf course and some yoga. She says, "Art takes up most of my time and if I have free time in the evening, I would rather be on the golf course than anywhere else." Last year, however, wasn't that good in terms of golf as she bust her ankle twice in a row and hence spent a considerable amount of time away from the golf course, but is now back in the swing of things with both ankles having mended well. |
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| Golf, despite the high level of interest and comittment, remains in the private domain for Bawa. She says, "I didn't want to play matches ever as I did not want to get pressured. I wanted to have the flexibility of playing when I want to rather than according to the match schedule. I enjoy this game for myself." |
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| Golf and art in some ways are two sides of the same coin; both require high levels of concentration, both are about bettering yourself rather than about competing against someone else. And though Bawa hasn't done a golf inspired series of either paintings or sculptures, who knows the two passions may one day merge to create the art equivalent of a hole-in-one. |
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| As a parting, shot she says, referring to her earlier comment about popular perception that the game is for old people, "Old golfers are in better shape than other old people." |
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