Pune badminton's fight for freedom

YOU can't miss Girish Natu. The umpire with the bright smile, who loves "notorious" players and doesn't mind the odd argument, has been around for more than two decades. In this talk with Dev S Sukumar, Girish Natu talks about his family's association with the game, their role in the freedom struggle, and his own development as umpire:

Bajisaheb
My grandfather BV alias Bajisaheb Natu was one of the founders of Pune Badminton Association way back in 1946. At the time it was called Maharashtra Badminton Association, and its jurisdiction included the whole state except except Bombay. But in 1979, a government directive stated that each state could have only one association, and the Bombay and Pune associations were merged. Bajisaheb conducted so many national and international events. PBA became Pune District and Metropolitan Association.
Bajisaheb won the Maharashtra State's Shiv Chattrapathi Award for Lifetime Service.

His dream was that Pune would have an independent complex. He had to wait till 1980 till industrialist AS Wardekar came in. Wardekar's company, WI, donated 40 lakh which funded the entire cost of the building. The 1980 Masters was the beginning. The hall was owned by an educational institution, but is on a perpetual lease to the Association. That complex built in 1980 hosted the Indian Masters, which Prakash Padukone won. That helped Pune badminton generate good talent. Pune centre is now recognised as one of the best in the country.

Hosting the Nationals
Before 1980, international players played in Invitation tournaments in Pune. The 1954 Nationals were held in Pune, the matches were played on a temporary wooden floor.

The 1983 and 1984 Nationals were held in Pune. That was how the Association attained a good organised structure.

Those were the days…
My grandfather was one around whom entire badminton in Maharashtra and Pune revolved. I've seen him play tournaments when he was 40 or 50. He played doubles and mixed doubles.

He used to cycle to deliver letters because the Association was not well off, they could not even afford postage. That's how they dedicated themselves to the game.

In 1950, my grandmother (my grandfather's cousin) constructed a badminton hall - Lakshmi Kreeda Mandir. She had a ladies club in the 1930s… when women weren't allowed to go out… she started a ladies club where ladies could come in the evenings… they had classes in martial arts, Hindi, arts, craft… it was a collective social thing. They also helped the freedom movement.

They used to carry badminton racquets beneath their sarees. Pune was very conservative in the 1930s. They made racquets hollow and put messages inside, and acted as messengers.

They used to play in an open court… and then she constructed the badminton hall with Shahabad stone floors… but that turned out to be one of the premier halls, with two courts. The roof was high, around 28 feet… till 1980, the district and state matches were held there. It even hosted international matches.

Lakshmi Kreeda Mandir Club
In 1983 I passed out from juniors. We used to play in Lakshmi Kreeda Mandir courts in the evenings. We had fun matches between the two courts. Once we wondered about conducting an open tournament. My grandfather was there. He said why not have an event for juniors? That's how we formed a club, Lakshmi Kreeda Mandir Club, and we conducted a junior level tournament for under-18, 15, 13, 10 in 1983. That was possibly the first ever tournament for juniors, at least in Maharashtra.

Since then, it has been going on uninterrupted… we improved to state level and national level… and in 2007, for 25th year, we propose to have an international level tournament.

SV Natu, my uncle, Bajisaheb's son, became State Secretary.

In 1983 I passed National level umpires exam. I got into administration. I got into BAI Executive Council in 1954. In 1993 I received IBF Accreditation (Grade 2), and in 1998, I became a Grade 1 umpire.

Classes for umpires
In 1985 the club started a course for umpires. There weren't many umpires in Pune. For any major event we had to invite umpires from Bombay. We overheard some comment about that, so we decided to develop umpires in Pune.

So from 1985 we started regular classes. Studying laws, discussing laws… every Sunday we'd have classes for umpires. We made guide books with questions and answers. The classes were two-hour sessions from 10 to 12 every Sunday. It went on for years.

Now of the total lot of umpires, almost 10 per cent is from Pune. Classes aren't as regular now. The last batch was 1996, for the Baruch Nationals. It went on for almost 13 years.

Applauding from the umpire's chair
I get involved with the match I'm officiating. At times, I even show my appreciation of a good shot.
I like three kinds of matches: One, a match that gets over early. Two, a real tight match with rallies. Three, notorious players.

Thank god, I've not landed in a soup so far. Of course, there are hundreds of controversies. I was very strict service judge. I was virtually blacklisted. But I stuck to my guns. And now the acceptability is much more.
At the international level, I'm going through this again. I'm hoping to gain acceptance, like in India.

Some players even request me to umpire their matches. Basically the player wants umpires to know what he's doing, to be fair to both players, and to be consistent.

The new rule, regarding over ruling of linesmen, is good. It's a weapon available to the umpire.