In the chukka: to higher ground

When talented fashion designer Rina Shah saw 10 men riding on horses playing polo for the first time, she wasn’t swept off her feet by one of those “knights in shining armour,” but instead, she wanted to be one of the “knights,” herself. Shoe designer Rina Shah had all odds stacked against her as polo was a sport dominated by men, many of whom had dedicated their lives to it. But that didn’t stop Rina from challenging the norm and going after her dream with immense passion.

Her unexpected journey into the polo field was, “Around four years ago, I went to watch a game of polo and got such a rush while watching it that I decided, why not give it a shot? A point comes in everybody’s life, when they feel that they have achieved everything they set out for and they need a new passion that drives them. For me, it turned out to be polo,” she explains.

While Rina had always been into sports, she feels that polo was the sport for her as it was more in sync with her profession and personality. “Now that I think about it, my favourite brands are Ralph Lauren and Gucci, and both are horse-inspired and have equestrian themes. And when I took up horse riding, I, myself, got inspired to start my own line called Rinaldi Polo. So on some level, I think that it was already in me and when I started to go ahead with it, it all fell into place.”

While she started playing barely two years ago, she is one the few woman polo players in the country. In her short career, she has already won two beginner polo tournaments and now has formed her own Rinaldi Polo Team that features some of India’s leading male players like Arjuna Award-winner Samir Suhag, Gaurav Sehgal, Chirag Parekh and Karan Ahmed, and she, of course, is the only female player in the team.

While any sport demands a lot from the players, it’s especially tough when you play with, and against the team. Most players spend their lifetime learning the sport. And with polo being a sport dominated by army personnel and Rajputs, how hard was it for a fashion designer to learn it at such a late stage in her life? “A lot of my friends were not sure about this and I was told many times that it’s not the ideal situation.

See, most polo players are childhood riders, but I had no riding background and started riding at the age of 35. And when I used to hear about the injuries involved in the sport, it sounded scary. There were times when I asked myself, ‘what am I doing?’ But despite a lot of falling, hurting my back and many fractures, I did not give up. I became tough and just wanted some more,” shares Rina.

While the first few years of training involved just riding the horse, it was only two years ago that she started playing polo. After training in Argentina and UK, Rina played in two amateur tournaments in Jodhpur and won both of them, which gave her the confidence to build her team.

She adds, “I believe that if you have to do something, do your very best. Maybe, I was not completely ready but I had to take the plunge some time. So why wait? It’s not like I am 15 and have a lifetime to prepare myself. I was confident enough to play with the best players in the game and decided to put up the best team for it.”

So how does she balance being a shoe designer and a polo player? She replies, “It’s very tough. I really don’t have a life as I wake up at 5.30 am and go riding (she has two horses), after which I go directly to work. I work till late in the evening and then go back riding. There are a lot of sacrifices that I had to make. This is where my equestrian line really helps as I am usually with horses and other polo players during the major part of my day. So, in a way, polo automatically helps my business and vice-versa.”

Rina feels that her journey is a testament to the fact that women can achieve so much in a male-dominated sport and there is no age barrier to fulfill dreams. “If I can do it at this point in my life, then I believe that there’s nothing impossible,” she says confidently. “I wish that through this, I can inspire people and hope that seeing me on the field will encourage other women to believe in themselves and take the plunge into the polo field, or any other field they want to.”