BENGALURU: Eagleton — The Golf Village near Bengaluru is India’s first private golf course which was built with the vision of the late Ashok Kumar Meda. The late chairman and MD also broke the world record in 1987-88 by arranging over 1006 eye-operations in a span of five months and is a recipient of many national and international awards.
Today, his son Chetan Meda is the President and Director (Marketing) of India’s top rated 500 acre golf resort, Eagleton, which is one of the best championship golf facilities with a 168 acre, 18 hole championship golf course and golf academy. Eagleton is one of the residential enclave in the city having a world class club house with a 132 hotel rooms.
Chetan tells that the surrounding of the resort is ideal for taking walks in the morning. “I wake up at 7 am on a regular day and take a walk in the golf course to see whatever is happening around in addition to enjoying my walk. I play golf two days in a week and usually don’t walk on those days,” he says.
Being single, he lives with his mother and elder brother in the Eagleton complex. Family holidays, which were frequent earlier has become far fewer after his father passed away. But that has not stopped Chetan from taking his favourite golf tours and wildlife excursions. “I am an avid golfer and have been playing golf for almost 20 years now. I keep doing golf trips in India and abroad.”
But what he sorely misses is angling or game fishing and ever since there has been a ban on angling in India he is having to content himself with his frequent wildlife trips which he makes once in a month to Bandipur, Kabini and other forests in the outskirts of Ooty. Talipore and Bheemeshwari, which is a fishing camp, are his favourite fishing hotspots. “We had this game fish called Machier, so we would catch 50-60 pounds of fish and then release them into the water,” he says wistfully.
“I make at least three trips to Goa in a year. Switzerland is my favourite international holiday destination, not because of the mountains or the beautiful golf courses but its scenic beauty is simply encapsulating,” he added.
However, he makes sure that in between his hectic schedule of managing Eagleton, his golf tours and monthly forest trips to unwind, he gets some time out for reading. “Right now I am reading a book by S.K Kapoor on International Law and Human Rights. Though I have a degree in electronics and communication engineering from Bangalore University, I am especially fond of following cases pertaining to criminal law,” he says. Chetan’s love for books is accompanied by his love for Mozart. He tells that it is Mozart’s instrumental music that helps him concentrate when reading, though he is fond of other classical forms of music as well.
“My favourite cuisine is continental,” he says with a glint in his eye. “I am not very particular about the diet though I take care of the timings a lot,” he tells us. For someone who is frequently on the go and travelling across the globe, he believes that it is important to adjust ones food preferences accordingly.