To revive polo in Chennai, M Buchi Prakash is scouting for land where the Buchi Babu family plans to open a riding school and train youngsters in the sport. “I have a licence for importing horses from New Zealand, which I did earlier, and had 12 stables,” says Buchi Prakash, a polo player, who first took a team to Bombay in 1971 and won the Silver Stick in the All India Polo Tournament at the age of 21. He intends to open the academy by September.
Buchi Prakash is also a six-time winner of the Kolanka C up, which was donated by the raja of Kolanka. The six-foot-tall cup is made of pure silver and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as “the world’s largest trophy”. He also won polo matches in 18 countries, including playing against the Sultan of Brunei. The equestrian says he learnt the scientific techniques of the game from Prem Singh, the erstwhile maharaja of Jodhpur, but is a self-taught polo player.
Buchi Prakash’s daughter, Florida-born Malavika Prakash Rao, followed in his footsteps. “My exposure to horses and riding began at the age of two,” says the 40-year-old with a laugh. “I later trained under Savanth saheb, the riding instructor in the Madras Polo and Riders Club from the age of six.” Frequent trips to Chennai enabled her to pursue her sports activities. Later, in 1993, realising her passion for horses and riding prompted her to enroll in the Water Stock house Training centre in Oxfordshire in England to train in dressage and stable management.
After her graduation from the Academy of Arts in San Francisco, she moved to Bengaluru in 2010 and joined the Embassy International Riding School. She participated in dressage competitions and won many. In 2015, Malavika won the 11th place, competing with international riders. “The club hosts competitions for six months a year for horse jumping and dressage,” she explains.
Malavika comes from a long line of sportspersons. “Polo is more a masculine game, which has come down to us from the Persians and was taken seriously by the royal families in India. I always stood in when a player could not make it to the polo match,” she says. She also plays tennis.
Malavika’s great great grandfather Modavarapu Venkatamahipati Nayudu, or Buchi Babu, was a great Madras sportsman in the 1880s and 1890s. He founded the Madras United Club and owned the sprawling Luz House. He had 21 stables.
Malavika’s great granduncles Baliah and Ramaswami were cricketers in the 1930s, and were famous for breaking the clock of the Presidency College clock tower with their sixes. They played in the Ranji Trophy. Ramaswami’s tennis feats in Cambridge earned him the Cambridge Tennis Blues and a place in the Davis Cup team. He played international doubles with M J Gopalan.
Buchi Prakash’s father M V Prakash, who began his sports career with cricket, tennis and golf, ended up playing polo and won the South India Gold Vaz Award in 1955 and the Kolanka Cup in 1960. He also won many tennis tournaments in Madras Gymkhana Club in 1945.
Malavika’s brother Abhimanyu carries the family tradition by playing polo and won the Kolanka cup in 1997.
Youngest of Buchi Prakash’s brood is 32-year-old Kadambari, a swimmer. “My grandfather used to swim three kilometres every day. Even though we were encouraged to play different of sports, I was fascinated by swimming,” she says. “We learnt to ride as children. Our day began at 5.30 am with my father drilling us “toes up, heels down, but my heart was in swimming”. She won the state Masters Swimming Champion Meet in Chennai in 2012, and in 2013, she won three golds and a silver at the Indore National Aquatic Meet.
SPORT IN THEIR GENES
■ Malavika comes from an ancestry of a long line of polo players
■ Her great grand uncles Baliah and Ramaswami were cricketers in the 1930s
■ Her great, great grandfather, Modavarapu Venkatamahipati Nayadu, founded the Madras United club, owned the sprawling Luz House and had 21 stables
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Uma B alasubramaniam / May 07th, 2016