In the manicured corridors of Indian high society, polo has long been viewed through a prism of champagne flutes, fascinators, and the distant thud of hooves — a lifestyle ornament rather than a gruelling athletic pursuit.

However, as the national capital prepares for the fifth edition of the Indian Polo Awards on Friday (March 20), the narrative is being righteously rewritten.

At the heart of this transformation is Maninder Sethi, the founder and editor-in-chief of La Polo, India’s only media house dedicated exclusively to the “Sport of Kings.”

Speaking to Firstpost’s Anmol Singla over the weekend, Sethi lays out a vision that goes beyond the glitz of the upcoming ceremony. It is a vision rooted in reclaiming a sport that, while celebrated globally, was born in the dusty plains of the Indian subcontinent.

When history repeated itself

The genesis of La Polo was neither corporate nor calculated. It was, in Sethi’s own words, an “accidental” inspiration.

The journey began in 2013 with a chance viewing of a match in Jaipur. The raw power of the sport struck a chord, leading him back to his roots in Punjab.

“The first vision was to introduce that thing back in my hometown, which is Ludhiana,” Sethi recalls. This wasn’t merely about organising a game, it was about exhuming a buried legacy. In 2017, before the formal launch of La Polo, Sethi organised a tournament in Ludhiana — the first the city had seen in 80 years.

While researching for the event, Sethi uncovered the poignant reason for the sport’s disappearance from the region. He recounted a legendary match where the Patiala Tigers lost to
Jodhpur. In a fit of pride and heartbreak, the players burned their mallets on the ground, vowing never to play again.

“This is how Polo vanished from Punjab,” Sethi explains. “Not knowingly, we became a part of history by reintroducing that into the state. Our tournament was under the patronage of the erstwhile Maharaja of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It was our tribute to him.”

The gamble paid off. The Ludhiana tournament saw a staggering turnout of over 10,000 people, proving that the appetite for polo existed far beyond the elite circles of Delhi and Rajasthan.

It was this massive public interest that highlighted a glaring void: the lack of a modern communication platform for the sport.

The “Met Gala” of Indian Polo

As the Indian Polo Awards enters its fifth year, it has evolved into what Sethi describes as the “Met Gala of Indian Polo.” However, the glitz is a means to a much more practical end: recognising the labour-intensive machinery that operates behind the scenes.

“Throughout the year, what you get to see on the field is the action,” Sethi tells Firstpost. “But that is not just what Polo all about. A lot of things in Polo happen behind the scenes also.” Sethi was emphatic about the lack of recognition for the support systems that make a 7-minute chukker possible.

“For a horse to come onto that field to play, there’s a whole exercise where the ground staff, where the trainer, are all involved in selection of the horse,” he says. “There’s a lot of rigorous work and people were not recognised. So we thought, why not introduce something where we celebrate the spirit of the sport?”

By honouring the trainers, the grooms, and the technical staff alongside the star players, the awards aim to democratise the sport’s success. “The main objective is to pay gratitude towards the people, those who have given their hard work to make what Polo is today.”

Dismantling the “elitist” shield

One of the most profound barriers to the growth of polo in India is its perception as an inaccessible, “closed-door” sport. Sethi argues that this “elitist” image is a self-fulfilling prophecy created by a lack of communication which no one bothered to correct.

“This is a kind of a perception which has been built on its own. And nobody has tried to break it ever. So this is where the biggest gap was,” Sethi remarks. He challenged the notion that the polo community is exclusionary.

The issue, according to Sethi, is a fundamental lack of literacy regarding the sport’s mechanics. He famously pushed back against the common simplification of the game, “Everyone in a nutshell describe Polo by saying that it’s ‘hockey on the horseback’. No, it is not. It is not hockey on horseback.”

Instead, he described an ethereal connection between man and beast that defies simple categorisation.

“A horse whose mind is synchronised with a rider in such a fantastic way. He’s [the horse] following the command. He’s understanding the game. He’s also playing equally. It is the only team sport in the world where humans and animals meet together.”

The lack of spectator engagement, Sethi argues, stems from a lack of education. Much like cricket or football, the enjoyment of polo is predicated on understanding its dynamics. Without that literacy, the sport remains a “fancy lifestyle” event rather than a competitive athletic fixture.

Sethi advocated for a fundamental shift in how polo is reported, moving it from the “lifestyle and entertainment” sections to the “sports” pages. “I expect that every media house to at least be responsible to our own heritage,” he asserts.

He pointed out the historical irony that while modern polo was born in India — specifically in Manipur, before being codified by the British — it is now celebrated more vibrantly in countries like Argentina.

“India has given birth to Polo. Modern Polo was born in India. Britishers took over it from here. Now it is celebrated globally. But here, we are yet to have more centres. We are yet to have that media which will communicate about it.”

Sethi believes that with a “focused approach,” India could rival the global giants of the sport. “We can be the Argentina of the world. The breeders, the horses, the fields, the trainers, everything. India has fantastic infrastructure to have everything established over here.”

Arena polo & grassroots education

If traditional grass polo is the “long-form” epic, Sethi sees Arena Polo as the “T20” of the equestrian world — a format designed to bring the action closer to the people.

“Arena Polo will attract a lot of young players, and a lot of new centres in India,” Sethi predicts, citing recent successes in Gujarat and Hyderabad.

Sethi views the arena format as a pedagogical tool. “It’s a more spectator-friendly sport… It is a new audience. They would get to see it more closely. It’s a platform for young riders also to get into a practice circle. Because it is comparatively safer than the mainstream Polo.”

However, Sethi is realistic about the hurdles, particularly the lack of live coverage for major seasons in Delhi and Jaipur. When asked why even basic YouTube live-streaming is absent, his answer returned to the theme of education.

“I personally feel the audience is not yet aware about the formats of the game,” he admits.

He highlighted how commentators still have to explain basic rules, such as why goalposts change after every goal. To solve this, Sethi is looking toward the grassroots level.

He proposes a school engagement program where polo is introduced as part of the curriculum. “Give them a mandate to explore it… so that they are aware about it tomorrow. Why this is popular in Argentina is because everyone knows the sport.”

“Once you’ll understand Polo,” Sethi promises, “I bet you will enjoy it totally in a different way.”

The current Indian Polo season has been one of significant growth. Beyond the traditional strongholds of the Delhi Polo Season and the Jaipur Season, the sport has seen various regional polo clubs that are increasingly focusing on the sport.

The Indian Polo Awards by La Polo on March 20, 2026 in New Delhi will serve as a barometer for this progress.

At Firstpost, we extensively covered Indian polo through the 2024-25 season, first focusing on the 
_origins of the sport,_ and then diving deep into the 
_role of the Indian Armed Forces in reviving polo_ as well as the 
_challenges the sport faces_ in the subcontinent.

Now we are in the middle of a new series of features focusing on the 2025-26 Indian polo season.