Hole in one

In the game of golf, hole in one has a special place. This means that on a three par hole your shot from the tee box lands the ball in to the hole. You will not get the same recognition if you were to do a four par in two strokes when it is called a birdie or a five par in three when it is called an eagle. Getting birdies and eagles is not uncommon but to get a hole in one is extremely rare and a golfer holds this as an achievement despite the fact that there is an element of luck in addition to skilled shot making in achieving this feat.

Life time of playing and you may not get his distinction and one may get it in the very first year of playing. It happened to a friend of mine within three months of playing and he couldn’t understand all the fuss the others made of this because he still was not aware of the rarity of the feat. Another one who achieved this after three decades of golf did it in the most unusual way. He mishit he shot which rolled all the way to the green and dropped into the hole. When he went in search of the ball which had sped and having not found it anywhere around he looked casually and found it resting at the bottom of the hole. A bad shot getting rewarded was his comment. This did not prevent his friends and others in the clubhouse extracting their pound of flesh in the form of several rounds of drinks at his cost.

I achieved this feat two Sundays ago. This short three par 135 yards, has a visible green and when the good seven Iron shot soared high and dropped near the pin I had no idea that it had dropped inside the hole till the caddies who could actually see the ball disappearing into the hole jumped up and screamed ‘ hole in one’. It took a few seconds to sink in and then it was few minutes of pure ecstasy and then on to some elated mood. That I had to stand rounds of drinks was a pleasure. It took nearly 20 years of playing this game to get this distinction.

Our club rewards the getter of a hole in one with a branded travel bag, ten cases of beer, 5 bottles of whiskey, six bottles of vodka and one case of white wine. As I couldn’t carry this booty in my small car, I had to requisition the club’s van to transport this to my home. My drinking is confined to an occasional weekend beer and the only way to get rid of this quantity of liquor which was occupying the much needed space in my garage was to give it away. I spread the word around that I am holding a garage offer. It took just three days for my friends to clear the whole lot to my delight!

Many of these wished me to keep getting hole in ones.

Silence

To remain silent needs a lot of discipline. Natural outlet for ones thought is to give expression and the best way is to mouth it. Most people love to talk and very few to listen. Even when they listen their brain is thinking what to say to what they are listening. When one is alone and the mouth is therefore necessarily shut one can remain silent. Easy said than done. The mind is active and the run of thoughts is incessant and thus you are not silent though you are not making noises. Emptying the mind of all thoughts, I believe, gives one bliss and meditation helps you to achieve this. I have just started with one technique that was taught to me and hopefully when it happens I will let you all know. At present I am at the stage of learning to sit cross-legged on the floor for the 35 minutes and let me tell you that it is no bliss.