Rajiv
Mehra
Producer, Eagle Video Films
By Darshana D.
 After
days of pursuing, we finally meet Rajiv
Mehra on the sets of Shanno ki Shaadi.
Taking a short break from his hectic shooting
schedule, Mehra lights up a cigarette as
we settle down for a brief tete-e-tete.
After chatting up the salt-n-pepper producer/director
about his soon to be launched show 'Kasme
Vaade' and his other on-air projects
like Shararat we slowly dicover a
rather sporty side to this ace producer.
He reveals, "I am very passionate about
the game of Polo and I've been pursuing
it for almost two decades now. I love cricket
too, but I just watch the game." Taking
a nostalgic trip from his earlier days,
he goes on, " while in school I got
fond of horse riding. My maternal uncle
who used to stay at Napeansea road would
accompany me to the race course at the Mahalaxmi
race course. As my love for riding grew
and then later I got totally hooked on to
the game of Polo."
"I joined the Amateur Riders' Club
at Mahalaxmi and started participating in
sports like Show Jumping [going over an
obstacle while riding] Tent Pegging, [unearthing
the peg with a lance while riding a galloping
horse] Dressage rider doing various moves
in co-ordination with the horse],"
says the student of Scholar High School
and H. R. College who won the championship
in Tent Pegging at an individual as well
as at a National level playing for Western
India
 Now
Polo is only a leisure activity
"I have been pursuing the game seriously
for almost two decades now. But now I don't
really have the time for serious tournaments,
it's only a leisure game.The reason being
that the game requires tremendous fitness
levels, a lot of time and a string of Polo
ponies. I used to get away to places like
Delhi and Jaipur for a month or so to participate
in all the tournaments. The fitness levels
of a Polo player should be almost at par
with that of a Squash player or an American
Football player," says Mehra who in
his younger days used to ride for an hour
in the mornings and evenings to keep fit.
On
a lighter vein, he continues,"it was
not as if the horse was doing all the work
but that was not the case. To take the ball
to make a goal on a galloping horse with
a rough stick (read Mallet) over the pitch
[spanning over 300 by 200 square yards]
requires utmost physical and mental agility
Polo
Ponies
As
the sugarless coffee arrives,we ask him
about how many horses he maintains? "
earlier between me and a friend we used
to maintain about 3 to 4 horses. Now as
the chairman of the Amateurs Riders Club
at Mahalaxmi, I urge the television fraternity
to avail of all the advantages of this sport
in Mumbai. We encourage women too to pursue
the game."
Rajiv's
tips to aspiring polo players:
- Be
ready to maintain several polo ponies.
A Polo player needs to change at least
four ponies for one game per day. That
is because 1 polo chakkar offers seven
and a half minute of playtime that is
bound to tire the horse. Since one game
of Polo consists of six chakkars one needs
to maintain a string of ponies as they
could get injured or ill too.
- Become
the member of Amateur Rider's Club at
Mahalaxmi as it offers the cheapest facilities
in the world where it buys and maintains
the horses. It also charges minimum for
playing one chakkar. The upkeep of the
horse is cheap at Rs 1000 per horse per
month against a Singapore Club that charges
3.5 lacs for the upkeep of a horse which
is really steep.
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