Munnar of old days. It had three clubs.
1. High Range Club
Membership was reserved for British Managers and Assistant Managers. No entry for natives or poor Indians. Later, Indians were recruited as Assistant Managers who after a couple of years were promoted as Managers. They too were enrolled as members of the club. The gripewine was that the members with their wives would assemble every evening and they would dance, drink and dine and return to their estate bungalows. Once, two young Britishers as they drove back late in the night - drunk - landed and drowned in the catchment area of the reservoir of the dam, Headworks. Both were interred in the Cemetery of Christ Church Munnar.
The Club had a Golf Course and cricket cum football ground. It had tennis courts too. As we were prohibited from entering the holiest of holy place we had no means to know what else was inside.The Britishers were angling with their fishing rods to catch trouts from the river cum reservoir and were sun bathing in the process. The club had facilities to accommodate guests. It graciously permitted natives to enter the sacred premises, and watch cricket or football games when they were on. But nowhere else.
It's etched in my memory. Once there was a Football match on the sacred ground. It was between the High Range Football team and an Indian team led by the legendary Indian goal keeper Thangaraj.
I don't remember who won. But we were thrilled when the centre forward of the High Range team, Sekhar, hoodwinked the great Thankaraj and placed the ball past him into the Indian Teams's net. Poor Thankaraj dived but it was beyond him. 'Goal,' the overjoyed spectators and the entire High Range team shouted and danced with glee.
2. Indian Club
This was for the natives - the staff. It had a good library. There was a canteen. It had tennis, table tennis, billiards, snooker and card games.
There was no dancing. But liquour flowed freely. There were rooms to stay as well.
3. Workshop Club.
Munnar had a Work Shop. The workers there were considered a grade above the labourers - who were called coolies by the Britishers and the term had stuck -but a step below the staff. They were denied entry to both High Range and Indian Clubs. But they were allowed to have their own club - the Workshop Club.
Here, there were table tennis and card games. Though it didn't have a canteen, it had a free flow of liqour. There was no accommodation.
4.The poor labourers or coolies didnot have their own club. But they had the Mukkadan where they had Arack or Charayam that was cheap. They used to expend whatever they earned happily at Mukkadan and were content to remain poor.
It suited the britishers fine. They had an assured supply of labourers for the future as well, as the children of the labourers devoid of formal education were joining the workforce when they grew up.
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