Arun Lal was unwinding at CC&FC on the sidelines of a Saturday game at the Ballygunge address. Laughing and mingling with the members, there was something cool and warm about his demeanour. And that’s precisely what the new president of CC&FC was during a t2 chat that followed: cool and warm!
Congratulations! How is it going?
Good, good! We are missing our president Sunny (Puri) because he had a lot of experience. In a year like this (when the 225th birthday celebrations of the club are on), we needed him, but his health was just not permitting.
What were you anticipating before you took over and what has it been like?
Oh! This is a magnificent club. It’s got history, tradition, heritage, great membership, lovely people, hockey, cricket, rugby, football, tennis… the works. It’s an absolute privilege. I have been a member since 1978.
How has the club changed over the years?
The entire club has evolved. It’s a dynamic institution. The members are coming, going. In that sense, nothing remains the same. When I first joined, our membership was close to 400 and now it’s about 2,000. Everything has changed. Then you personally knew almost everybody. Now, you don’t. You are not expected to know everybody. But yes, you work for the betterment of the club.
This is an important year, 225 years, I have been trying to explain to everybody, is absolutely amazing. It’s incredible, in fact, for an institution to last that long. More than that, the substantive issue is that it also signifies 225 years of cricket in India. In that sense, it is a property of the Board… for the BCCI to take up, which is what I wanted. But it was in such a flux, such a limbo… may be now when there is some stability in the Board, we can approach them. In that sense it is 225 years of cricket in Bengal. So, it’s CAB’s property and we are getting a lot of assistance from them. Sourav (Ganguly) understands the significance. And we are celebrating it together. I would love to have talk shows, lectures, an inter-school quiz to celebrate 225 years. We are planning to have an ex-Internationals Indian Team vs CC&FC Invitational XI match. Let’s see.
Feel the 225 years. Realise the significance. Enjoy it — Arun Lal’s message for CC&FC members
What is the heritage of the club for you?
It’s unrivalled. It’s such a privilege to be associated with such an institution that stretches back to 225 years. Not many in the world can exist that long in anything. Every member suddenly realises that.
What are your immediate goals?
To set the ball rolling. We had a magnificent show yesterday (Fender & Friends Featuring Ehsaan & Loy, presented by CC&FC in association with t2 on February 17). Great atmosphere. Almost 900 people were here. The weather was lovely. Yes, it’s cricket which is being celebrated, it’s 225 years, but the club also plays football, hockey, cycle polo, rugby, tennis. So, we are planning events in each. It’s essentially a sports club. That’s its tradition. This is a unique club.... We are the patrons of rugby in India.
What are your long-term goals?
I want to raise the profile of the club in the minds of people all over the country. A lot of them don’t know about CC&FC. A lot of them don’t know cricket is 225 years old in India!
What would you change about CC&FC?
I certainly love the membership of CC&FC, but we do need to recruit young sportpersons a lot more…
Why do you think that has stopped?
Infrastructurally, we don’t have the capacity to cater to more members. As it is, it is pretty chaotic if everyone were to come to the club. In that sense, it is a bit of a handicap. The profile has changed. Earlier only young sportsmen would get membership. That was different. May be we are finding it difficult to get that quality sports people to play in our A-teams. It’s only because we are not really getting the younger lot to come and be members here. When I joined, I was 23. That’s the kind of members we are lacking at the moment.
But the club has also expanded the way it has... you don’t need only the sportsperson, but also people associated with sports… other successful people you’d want to mix around with. This is a great place to come and play cricket. You don’t have to be a Bengal cricketer to get membership here. You just have to be interested in sports. Come and play hockey, football, rugby….
What’s your favourite place in the club?
The grounds… in the heart of Calcutta, beautifully maintained. You remove this ground then it’s just any other club. Saturdays, Sundays are terrific in winter. This is the essence of the club.
Earlier I couldn’t come here so much because of my profession. I played cricket a lot and that necessarily took me out of Calcutta. After that I was doing commentary. Now that is coming down a bit. I’ll be more in the club. I was almost like an absentee member for many years… coming here twice or thrice a month. I started coming here regularly since a year ago.
Food faves
CC&FC is known for the best kebabs in town. I firmly believe that the food here is awesome.
So, are you getting to know the club a lot better?
Much better. What has changed is now we have an election for the committee members which did not happen earlier. That’s something a lot of us are not happy with. But then, that may be a sign of changing times.
That causes bad blood, you think?
It shouldn’t, but it does. If you don’t vote for me, it doesn’t mean you are my enemy. That shouldn’t be happening and especially in a sporting club.
How is the club exchequer doing?
Very good. Sponsorship is a little difficult at the moment. Partly because of the economy. We have to maintain it from our own funds. If in a regular year the budget is X, in the 225th year it is 3-to-4 X! But this is never going to come back. This year is special.
What else have you played at the club apart from cricket?
I have played everything… cricket, hockey, football. Some of the fondest memories I have of the club are from five-a-side hockey matches. I wasn’t that good in football, but I was pretty okay in hockey.
Any memorable cricket matches here?
Madhavrao Scindia was the BCCI president then. He came down for a match. That was a big game with the likes of (Ravi) Shastri, (Syed) Kirmani, (Dilip) Vengsarkar all here.
Where do you want to see the club when you leave office?
I want to see the club more integrated. I am just saying that this is one club which had the tradition of not having elections. I don’t want elections, ideally. But some people say it’s good to have elections. Then every member gets to cast his vote. It’s probably not such a bad thing, only if we were a little more mature about it.
Saionee Chakraborty
