"Golf's been very good to me. It's the least I could do. There was karma for me in this."

Mark Magnier of the Los Angeles Times files a wonderful A1 story on golf instructor Indrajit Bhalotia's efforts to improve fortunes for select youth in India, with an assist from local benefactors along with members of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. I'm not sure if this one is behind the Times paywall, because it's a pretty special story and a nice reminder that there are people doing great stuff without teaching the ten core values.

Magnier opens and closes with the story of fourteen-year-old Mohan Sardar who lives with his sister and parents in a one-room shanty but is an emerging talent who got into golf via caddying.

One day Mohan befriended a golfer, asking whether he needed a caddy. He earned $1.50 the first day, gave most of it to his mother, and they ate fish that night. "It was brilliant," he said.

The golfer's coach started giving Mohan pointers and he was soon playing the occasional round of a sport that enjoys a particularly elite status in India, especially among nouveau riche Indians clamoring to mark their arrival.

Today, Mohan, a lanky boy with short hair and deep-set eyes, has a golf handicap of three and is among India's top five junior players.