Rajinder Kumar Singh Kalaan
Colonel Rajinder Kumar Singh Kalaan better known as Raj Kalaan has played Elephant Polo since 1987 and is a current member of the WEPA committee. He has an impressive history in horse polo including playing for India in World Cup Polo.Colonel Raj Kalaan and his sons Uday Kalaan, 32, and Angad Kalaan, 30, are polo enthusiasts. In fact, both sons play professionally.
Raj's father, Major General Swarup Singh Kalaan,came from the village of Salhawas, originally in Punjab but now in Haryana. He was commissioned in the army in 1938 and was awarded the military cross for gallantry in Burma in 1942.In 1965 he was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for gallantry in Kashmir. Raj was born in Salhawas in 1940 and went to Lawrence School, Sanawar, near Kasauli, Simla in Himachal Pradesh.In 1956 he joined the National Defence Academy (NDA), in Khadakvasla, Pune. Since horses were always around during his holidays from boarding school, riding was a natural progression.While at the NDA, he learnt to play horse polo and participated in show jumping and other equestrian sports. After three years at the NDA, he spent a year at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, where he was captain of the polo team.
In 1966, he was posted to Delhi in the President's bodyguard and spent three years there. Raj and Santosh got married in 1972 and both boys were born soon afterwards. "My happiest times were in Jaipur playing polo," says Raj. "I used to get invited abroad to play and travelled a lot."
Raj served the 61st Cavalry for 14 years, commanding the regiment from 1980 to 1983 and retired thereafter.
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