By Shaili Chopra
She was the livewire of clubs. She would brighten up many a golfer with her swing and smile. She was focussed on her sport like few in her times. Sita Rawlley is a legend in ladies golf history in India. Many would remember as the woman who put Indian women’s golf on the global map.
Ms Rawlley would be out at the Delhi Golf Club more often than many would expect her to step on the course. She would cheer upcoming golfers, young women taking to the game and inspiring them to play more, do more with their clubs. Her audrey-hepburn like sunglasses, bright tees and a wide smile would lift up any despondent golfer’s day. “She was my gorgeous golfing godmother growing up playing the game through junior, amateur and professional golf,” remembers Sharmila Nicollet. “She was always out on the last day of most of the tournaments I had in Delhi supporting and cheering me up through every win and loss.”
Ms Rawlley has the joie de vive even as a ninety old ‘young’ lady. Kavita Singh, President of the Women’s Golf Association remembers her as a courageous woman. “She was a pathbreaker for women’s golf in India. She was one gutsy lady. Courageous and strong. Her legacy for us is to be strong, courageous and passionate about what one does in life.” Members of Delhi Golf Club, which was Ms Rawlley’s home course would remember that on occasion she would putt even while on her wheelchair. She had had to get her legs amputated about five years ago due to clots in her calves after a heart operation. For the woman who golfed all her life, this was probably the most heart breaking moment as she lost what was her ‘partner’ till the very end…her game of golf. Ms Rawlley leaves a strong message for all those who saw her live her life to the fullest. Having lost a young son at an untimely age and later see her husband go before her eyes, even at ninety she knew how to live life and see its positives. The Arjuna Awardee celebrated her 90th birthday less than a month ago.
Secretary General of WGAI Champika Sayal who knew Ms Rawlley personally shares her death marks the end of an era. “An exemplary woman who guided golfers of my generation with grace, generosity and fortitude,” Sayal reckons. “The spirit of legends live on Sita Rawlley’s spirit will continue live on.”
Personally for me, a brief but very special meeting with is hard to forget. I made the phone call to her to share the news with her. It was the announcement of the Dr Bharatram Lifetime Achievement Award, given to Ms Rawlley in 2013 at the inaugural edition of the India Golf Awards. It was an honour to connect with her and share the news with her. She was poised, and pleased. But what I took away from her was this wonderful confidence in my effort. Sita Rawlley was delighted we had finally instituted awards to recognise golfers in India aside of the rankings. Our phone call was brief and to the point.
She did actually come for the awards. Frail, weak but confident in her wheel chair, she rolled into the banquet at The Oberoi Gurgaon supported by her family. She sat through most part of the ceremony, interacting and conversing with the people attending this first time ceremony. It was really a lovely reunion for everyone who hadn’t met her in a while and a live and real reminder to the new generation of golfers who she was, and what she meant to the fraternity and the sport. Ashish and Kartik Bharatram announced the first of the Dr Bharatram Lifetime Achievement Award at the India Golf Awards on the stage and later they went down the aisle to felicitate her among the audience as it was only appropriate that she didn’t get off the wheel chair to to go up to the podium.
Sita Rawlley brought attention to golf in the 1960s and 1970s when few ladies took up the sport. With her, Anjani Desai is considered among the female legends in the sport in India. They played as an amateur because there were no pro tournaments back then for women in India. Their contribution and role in India golf will be embedded in history forever.
