Shadows Of The Last Great Empire
What makes membership of old British clubs so desirable? Answer lies in their evolutionary story
When deep pockets vie for membership of Gymkhana Club, the one that govt wants evicted from 27 acres of Lutyens’ Delhi, what exactly are they buying into? Rumour has it, the club’s membership entails a wait of 30-40 years. Someone who applied in the middle of Manmohan Singh’s first Budget speech in July 1991, might still be in the queue. That’s half a lifetime. Plus, the price of a premium SUV. So, what gives Gymkhana and other elite clubs, vestiges of the Raj, their cachet?
It can’t be Samuel Johnson’s idea of a club. The good doctor, father of the modern dictionary – reason to pay attention to his definition – described a club as, “An assembly of good fellows meeting under certain conditions”. That could be a college staffroom. The club he founded – called The Club – nine years later, in 1764, was just a venue for weekly dinner and discussion. And in that, it pretty much followed the template of other famous clubs of the past century.
It can’t be Samuel Johnson’s idea of a club. The good doctor, father of the modern dictionary – reason to pay attention to his definition – described a club as, “An assembly of good fellows meeting under certain conditions”. That could be a college staffroom. The club he founded – called The Club – nine years later, in 1764, was just a venue for weekly dinner and discussion. And in that, it pretty much followed the template of other famous clubs of the past century.