Our babus will prove adept at finding greener pastures

At best of times, the Indian bureaucracy is not known to be nimble on its feet, nor are practices like jumping through hoops or overcoming hurdles part of its list of preferred exercise. Golf, on the other hand, has a pace and procedure eminently suitable to the psyche of India’s civil servants.

Adroit short-distance moves, or a series of them, rather than speed or precision are of the essence. Importantly, the time taken to execute such moves is not a relevant factor but convivial progression towards an often invisible goal at a mutually suitable tempo is the preferred mantra. No wonder the membership of golf clubs across India are suitably peppered with bureaucrats. They must, therefore, be quite annoyed by the rumours that there may be an assault on their genteel daily regimen by the new dispensation atop New Delhi’s Raisina Hill — itself the location of a mini golf course, within the precincts of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

With their famed ability to adjust to changing times, it may not be surprising to find bureaucrats stowing away their clubs for other more acceptable sports or pastimes, at least for the immediate future. Indeed, if the purpose of their morning ambles amid rolling greens is to calm their over-exercised minds before the rigours of the day, yoga and meditation may find approbation from their new higher-ups.