CXOs in Sports: Interview with Dr. Giridhar Boray, VP and GM, India, Kodiak Networks

Sportskeeda brings another exciting series of interviews – CXOs in Sports, where we speak to eminent and prominent personalities, talking about their sporting interests and ideas for development of sports in general and of their sports work/interest in particular.

Dr. Giridhar Boray

Dr. Giridhar Boray, an exprienced mobile telecom industry professional has varied interests in different disciplines such as Mobile Telecom Technology, and has deep interest in ancient vedic scriptures. Currently, he is the VP and GM, India, at Kodiak Networks. He has authored numerous papers on many of these subjects and holds many US patents on mobile communication technology. He is also a keen follower of Golf, and is a regular on the Golf course.

He spoke to Sportskeeda recently about the development of Golf in India in particular, and how he saw the future of Sports in India in general.

When did you start playing Golf? How often do you play?

I started playing Golf around the year 2000, and play about once a week regularly.

How did you get introduced to the game of Golf?

The first tournament I saw was the Byron Nelson Golf Championship in Irving, Texas, which had me instantly attracted to the game.

Who is your favourite sports person? And why?

My favourite sports person is Phil Mickelson. One of the all-time greats, Mickelson’s tenacity, the unorthodox fact that he plays golf left-handed and is called “Lefty” , despite being right handed are a couple of the qualities that make him one of the sportspersons I admire and look up to.

What about Golf appeals to you the most? How does it help you relate to your professional life?

Golf is a great leveller. You play against yourself and it teaches you to be truthful to yourself, a quality which helps you both personally as well as professionally.

Your thoughts on what could be done to grow the culture of sports in India.

All sports bodies should be made professional. Sports organizations should be brought under the RTI, to encourage open and clear flow of information. e.g. an organization like the BCCI that is authorized to represent India in International arena and uses stadia built on Government lands has to be under the RTI.

What has been your best sporting moment? (Please share any anecdote that comes to your mind)

My best sporting moment was my first ‘hole in one’ on the 6th hole in Bangalore Golf Club. (Basically when a player hits the ball directly from the tee into the cup with one shot)

Another moment I treasure was when I got the opportunity to play along with some members of India’s 1983 World Cup winners on the 25th anniversary of the Golf tournament in Noida (Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Syed Kirmani, Roger Binny).

Have you seen changes in the way in which Golf is perceived in India? Do you think the sport needs more role models to have a wider reach?

Yes. The number of women and youngsters playing the sport has gone up greatly. Many more private courses have come up. The Government can do a lot more to attract more International golf tournaments to be played in India which will bring in more international players from whom the youngsters can learn a lot just by watching them play.

Do you believe Golf as a sport has good infrastructural support in India to thrive? And do you see it able to handle the growing appeal of the sport?

The situation is improving. A lot more real estate developers are now looking at developing golf resorts; a prime example being the Champion Reef Golf County near Bangalore promoted by Confident Group builders which has a world class golf facility.

How do you see the future of Golf in India?

The future of golf in India is definitely bright. More young Indian golfers such as Anirban Lahiri and Sharmila Nicolette are playing in a lot more International tournaments and it won’t be too long before we have an Indian golfer win one of the Major Golf championships.

Also, in view of the rapid urbanization and move towards high density living options (ex: apartment complexes), many people are looking at a golf course not only as a place to enjoy a great game but also as a walk in the park.

A message or quote that you’d like to share with our readers.

Golf is a lifelong game and it can be played with a group or even alone. They say that you can gauge a person’s character by watching how he/she plays golf. You get to meet lot of interesting people on the golf course. I have met movie stars (Madhavan at Eagleton), cricketers (Dravid, Kapil at KGA) and even politicians (George Bush at the Houstonian Golf and Country Club in Houston, Texas).

Golf gives you great opportunities for networking. Go ahead, get yourselves a golf set and start swinging at one of the driving ranges

(PS: You don’t need to be a member of any club to play golf, you just need to know how to play).