Earlier in the day we had walked past the polo club… well, the others walked past but I walked straight through the gates and into the very grand club house. It turned out that later in the day was the final of some trophy. We were welcome to come along FOC. What a result.
We got there in good time at 4pm to get a premium seat behind the VIP row and settled in, watched the horses and players arrive and warm up on the field.
The Maharaja of Jodhpur arrived, feeble and being supported by a younger man. He started the game by tossing the ball into the melee.
I had only seen polo in the Cotswolds and was unimpressed but here, from my elevated position in the grandstand the chase was exciting, the horses galloping and turning and players riding with one hand, hanging over the side of the horse trying to make contact with the ball.
All around us were well-dressed people of all colours. We gave a good account of ourselves, didn’t disgrace ourselves by being loud or cheering in the wrong places.
We celebrated with the most expensive beer in Jaipur – £6 for a small bottle of Kingfisher lager in cut crystal glasses.
One of the things I wanted to do while in India was go to a cricket match but polo made a great substitute.
