'Arjuna focus' keeps this latecomer to golf going

The colour and character of money is on full display on the golf course. Especially so when you play with an investment banker, often whose sole aim is to get a deal at the 19th hole. Of course, many play for the fun of the sport but no banker would be saying the truth if he doesn't discuss business while playing a round with a potential client. Some bankers get to golf early while others latch on mid career. K Balakrishnan belonged to the latter group. What's that saying? PG Wodehouse, who wrote several books on golf humour, summed it up well – "Golf, like the measles, should be caught young, for, if postponed to riper years, the results may be serious."

Bala started playing golf about 10 years ago. "It was that point in time when I had resigned from HSBC and was yet to join Lazard. I used the two months very effectively – found a membership at BPGC, found a coach to teach me the game and got onto the course - ended up with a Handicap of 24 by the end of the period."

24 isn't great but good enough to get you by within a four ball. For anyone that's the ticket to start playing the full course. Bala's been lucky to not only have improved to 19 but also had success with a couple of holes in one. "One needs to be qualitatively consistent and persistent to be successful," he says of golf but admits it's also true of banking. "Both are fabulous and very individual specific - either one likes it (the business or game) or does not get too excited about it in the first place."

However, golf is more about failure than of success. It's a learning curve with several highs and lows. If one can keep the head down, both at work and in golf, there is a good chance of getting by reasonably well. Having learnt lessons early, Bala is now sharing them with his kids, at least one of who I see practicing on the golf course when I am out there. "I keep advising my kids on my concept of "Arjuna focus" - which is "whatever you do in life, do the right thing the correct way". I tell them it's like golf - "need to keep your head down, swing properly and finish your swing (without trying to see where the ball is going) - if you execute well, the shot will be perfect and the ball will land where you want it to". To do this you need "Arjuna focus" - stay focused and execute well to get best results."

Bala has a long plan for golf, which should summit with a game at Augusta if it were possible. He says he wouldn't mind a game with Tiger Woods either. For now he sticks to playing at Bombay Presidency and Willingdon Club and a special favourite is the Blue Canyon in Thailand.

While most analysts and bankers have little or no times while striking deals, to probably spend four hours playing 18 holes, the skill is a must in their tool set. Even as the non-golfers would disagree, the pleasures of a chat on a long walk broken down by swings and shots is far more likely to result in a deal than say a game across a tennis net? Like most sports, golf too leaves a long lasting impression and alters personalities of people to take more under pressure and compete oneself. And that explains why Bala, ex-HSBC and ex-Lazard decided to launch his own business in his mid 50s. He launched his own advisory firm KrisCore Advisors just six months ago. All with one motto at hand.

"There is no substitute for excellence and consistency. Just because you got one shot right - does not mean that the next one will be as good; you need to try be as good each time. It is the good shots that keep getting you back onto the course."