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The fact that this club has been managed and run exclusively by women for the past 115 years makes it the only one of its kind in the world....

THE railways have rusted, the administrative system is choking on balls of red tape and the Gothic buildings need age-defying make-up. Of all the things the British left us, the one concept that has been maintained is the club culture. These members-only institutions are still some of the most enduring examples of the social and architectural legacy of the Raj. British officers created these gentrified hubs with their socially exclusive codes of conduct, partial rites of passage and regular cultural activities, as a prescription for homesickness. While their purpose might have changed, these select establishments still flourish on the premise of exclusivity, status and prestige. We stopped over at a few of them.

Calcutta Cricket and Football club
Founded in 1792, it is one of the oldest sports clubs in the world. Till 1947, the Calcutta Cricket Club was the sole owner of Eden Gardens. Eventually, under pressure from the elected socialist government, it was handed over to the Cricket Association of Bengal and the National Cricket Club.

The club was a 8216;whites only8217; preserve till the 1950s. In 1964, the Calcutta Cricket Club and the Calcutta Football Club merged and only in 2000 did the club start accepting women members. Besides the Calcutta elite, the club8217;s members include players who have represented the country in various sports. Sir Vivian Richards has been an honorary member since 2003 and the late Madhavrao Scindia was a lifetime member of the historical institution.

Koi-hai Clubs of Assam
The Tea Planters8217; clubs of Assam are also called Koi-hai clubs. A tea plantation is more or less a world unto itself, isolated from the rest of civilization. And tea planting is a way of life for the planters. Once the women joined their husbands on the plantations, the social arena expanded and such clubs emerged in various tea districts.

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The Calcutta Ladies Golf Club

The fact that this club has been managed and run exclusively by women for the past 115 years makes it the only one of its kind in the world. It was established by Lady Curzon and a handful of her female golfing friends. The enthusiastic ladies got tired of having to sign in as guests at the men8217;s course and teed off on their own on May 7, 1891.
Initially, the CLGC clubhouse was only a canvas tent pitched on a nine-hole golf course. Of course it has since got itself a pucca building and even hosted competitions like the All India Ladies8217; Amateur Golf Championship. Its membership has risen from the initial dozen to 300.
And in a true mark of empowerment, men are still forbidden to hold CLGC membership and husbands and sons can only play at the club as guests.

After the day8217;s work was done, planters entering the quiet, deserted club premises had to call out, 8216;8216;Koi hai8217;8217; for the bearer to open the bar. The Darjeeling Club Ltd, Jorhat Gymkhana, Dibrugarh and District Planters8217; Club and the Shillong Golf Club are some of the oldest, most picturesque Tea Clubs in the country. While The Darjeeling Club is a heritage landmark, the Shillong Golf Club is called the 8216;Gleneagles of the East8217;.

nbsp;	The Gaekwad Baroda Golf Club
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	Created in the early 1940s by the late Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad, this is one of the few golf courses in the world that encircle a palace. In 1942, the Maharaja hosted the first golf open championship in western India8212;a lavish four-day affair with rounds of duck shoots, pig sticking, fishing and grand tea parties. At the time, the game was also played with wooden clubs, and Cheltenham ponies pitched in as caddies. Information courtesy Elite Clubs of India by Purshottam Bhageria and Pavan Malhotra

Kundale Club, Munnar
Right out of a postcard, with its red-tiled roof, white walls and backdrop of pine clusters, the Kundale Club almost doggedly continues to nurture traditions from the British era.

The club hasn8217;t had a telephone in 86 years and doesn8217;t entertain the idea of ever acquiring one. Even cellphones don8217;t work here, ensuring that nothing breaches the peace or the pact with its surroundings. The club has a carefully preserved visitors8217; book, which contains a 1984 entry by John F Kennedy Jr; names for each of its nine holes on the golf course; period furniture and a well-preserved 1918 photograph of its founders.