“I am a child of the earth,” says Nikki Ponappa with a smile on her face as she sprinkles basil leaves on the lemonade. Professional golfer, and environmental activist Nikki says everything she does is her rent to the earth.
Ponappa, in collaboration with actor Milind Soman recently announced the second edition of the Barefoot Marathon for December 11 in Coorg this year.
Her face is transformed with child like enthusiasm as she talks about the first edition held last year in December “It was the first Barefoot Marathon in the World. We had nearly 250 participants from all over the country. The entire event was eco-friendly. Our medal was made of coconut shells. We kissed the earth barefoot.” The event raised awareness against the 54,000 trees that were cut down in Coorg for a power grid. “Coorg is an eco sensitive zone. If you take down 54,000 trees in Coorg it is going to make Bengaluru hotter,” blazes Nikki who represents the Coorg Wellness Foundation “With the second run we are focusing on ‘Save our Cauvery’ ”
Ponappa left her corporate job at the age of 27 to play golf and turned pro a year later in 2008. She made it into the country’s top five in the year 2009-2010. “I have been a sports person all my life. I got selected for the national junior hockey team but an injury took me out of the game. In 2006 there was an article which said women’s golf was going professional in India, so I quit my job and wore my golfing shoes” reminisces Nikki.
At 35, Nikki says a golfer has no shelf life “The golf ball never asks you your age,” and adds she plays golf for spiritual reasons. “Golf is a reflective sport rather than a reactive sport. More than being good golfer it makes you a good human being.”
Nikki, concedes that women are not considered at par with men in golf, but she chalks off the discrepancy in sponsorships to differences in skill levels. “People taking up sports as a profession is a minority and we (women) are a further minority within it. There is a disparity in terms of sponsorships, but if we were to come back with a score of 12 under or 20 under like our male counterparts, the situation would be different.”
—Sayantika Majumder
