“Such beautiful English rain & English mud….Imagine Hertfordshire lanes, Devonshire downs, Westmoreland lakes, Scotch trout streams & Lusitanian views.” – Lord Lytton describing the idyllic beauty of Ootacamund & the Nilgiri Hills in a letter to his wife.
Ootacamund (Ooty) was discovered by the British around 1819, and they flocked there, and as their numbers grew, so did the need for a common meeting ground, & thus the Ootacamund Club came into being in October 1841. The founder of the Club was a Captain Douglas who, together with the 7 other officers of the Madras & Bombay Armies, formed the first committee, Lt. Col. C. D. Dun being the first President. Captain Douglas at first undertook the office of Secretary until the establishment was firmly opened & then handed over this office to Dr. R. Baikie MD MMS who, in default of other qualifications, devoted most of his time & attention to it.
Extracts of a circular dated January 1st , 1842, address to the European residents in India islands, by Dr. Baikie reads “To the Zeal, energy & perseverance of Capt. Douglas – the founder – the Club is indebted for having overcome these difficulties, & having succeeded in founding & opening the Ootacamund Club, now for 3 months in full operation.” The concluding paragraph of his circular reads “Much of it will be seen, has already been done, & with but limited means. It depends on an enlightened 7 liberal public to assist in carrying out what yet remains to be done, & the committee of management is now appealing to the whole Indian Community for their assistance & support, do so with the more confidence that their object is not only the limited one of adding to the comfort & convenience of a few, but the far higher one of smoothing the pillows & raising the languishing head of sickness & sorrow – of affording so far as may be, to the numerous sufferers from the effects of a tropical climate, a substitute for those comforts & conveniences otherwise only procurable in their native land, which they are forbidden by distance, want of time, & means, to partake of at their source.” This circular, without doubt, is a clear insight as to the how & why Clubs in India came into being.
source: http://www.ootacamundclub.com/