Fives in Darjeeling
A report by Richard Tyler from the 1987-88 EFA Annual Report
In October 1987, I was choosing stop-overs for my trip to Australia. Delhi and the Taj Mahal appealed but it was by chance that Tony Hughes suggested playing Fives in Darjeeling. The guide book says that Darjeeling is "a jewel of a town set at the foothills of the Himalayas and the Queen of the Hill Stations, a bolt-hole for the British". It sounded like a place not to be missed.
Darjeeling certainly lived up to this description and in my opinion must be one of the most fascinating destinations in the world. In our 10 days there we became accustomed to the unusual. Within 40 hours of leaving Heathrow we found ourselves in the midst of a potential revolution. The local people were demonstrating for their independence from the erswhile rulers in Calcutta. Their chants of "Long Live Gorkaland!" soon became commonplace. Tony and I were guests of the Rector of St Paul's School in his colonial style house. The hospitality was excellent and even western-style food was readily available. However, we were not so much looked after by the Rector and his wife as by his three servants. This was our first introduction to the caste system and the realisation that you were not supposed to do anything yourself was very powerful. It was also very strange to see your clothes being washed by the local women in large wooden bowls, and being beaten clean on white stones.
The town of Darjeeling is spectacularly perched on a mountain side - a fact which makes walking between the various tiers particularly exhausting. It is an interesting mix between the colonial relics of the British hill-station and the grime and dirt of a bustling Indian town. At the top of the town are the four private Schools founded in Colonial times. Beneath them you find the Planter's Club, the Darjeeling Mountaineering Institute and the Windamere Hotel, and the Tourist shops, lower down still you have the local shops, the market, the taxi rank and the slums and shacks in which many of the 100,000 inhabitants live. It is amazing to think that these jerry-built huts with their tin roofs can survive the monsoon.
But what really makes Darjeeling is the view of Kanchenjunga - "the King of the Mountains". An absolutely huge mountain, in fact the third highest in the world, it dominates the scene though on a clear day you can see a whole line of peaks all over 20,000 ft, surely one of the highest horizons in the world.
What of Fives at St Paul's? The two courts were built in 1899 at the request of an incoming British rector. We were relieved to find that the pepperbox was indeed halfway along the left hand wall!. However, the game in Darjeeling did have its peculiarities such as cloud drifting through the court or indeed smoke from a Tibetan monk's incense fire. The lob into the mist and the cloud-high cuts were novel and attacking shots. At an altitude of 8,000ft. the ball travelled noticeably quicker and it was much harder to intercept and take volleys on the top step. The court was fairly dark, and the electric lighting only worked intermittently. Darjeeling suffers from a power shortage and consequently the supply would be cut every evening. We scored a major success in teaching the School Administrator the game. He was so impressed that he immediately had the Fives Court lights connected to the School reserve generator - never before contemplated - this was performed using the simple Indian technique of inserting the bare wires into the two sockets!
About 15 senior boys play Fives regularly at St. Paul's. They make light of the difficult playing conditions and considering their lack of opposition or coaching, play the game to a surprisingly high standard. We found them totally enthusiastic and willing to learn and as a result they improved enormously during our stay. We also introduced classes of junior boys to the game during their P.E. lessons. We hope time will be found in the School curriculum for them to play regularly.
The School has balls and sufficient gloves and the School players are totally aware of the rules. The School players are fit and have a good sense for the game. This we felt was due in part to the fanatical enthusiasm of the sub-continent for cricket! When England met India in the World Cup Semi-final during our visit, the Rector diplomatically found an obscure religious birthday to commemorate and declared a public holiday. Every master and boy in the School then crowded around one of the four T.V. sets. When India eventually lost, the length of the ensuing silence had to be experienced to be believed.
The School, of course, claim to be Indian Fives Champions but there are in fact courts at Kodaikanal, but the distance is over 3,000 miles - they talk of arranging a School match although the travelling time would be at least five days.
We would like to thank everyone at St. Paul's for their hospitality. In particular, I should like to mention the Rector, Mr Jeff Gardener and Pradip Mall the Master responsible for Fives. It should be noted that the School would welcome further visits from any members of the EFA. We both found it to be a most memorable experience.
Richard Tyler
Constructed by Mike Fenn
5 May 2001
efa@etonfives.co.uk