Sachin Tendulkar: Master Blaster by Indranil Rai/Ayaz Memon (Book Review)!!!

   

       As I have already discussed in my last book review about "Jaico Cricketwallah Series with Ayaz Memon", I will start with the review of the second book that I read in the series. "Sachin Tendulkar- Master Blaster" by Indranil Rai. It's good to have different writers writing about different players which gives a uniqueness to each book in this series. Before this, I read the book on Virat Kohli which was quite differently written than this one still the feel of series exist. Whenever series of books are published under one Brand, a publisher keeps in mind that he retains all the characteristics of the last book in the series and hence, I would like to say that Jaico Publication succeeded in this test. 

Synopsis:- 

          From his appearance on the firmament as a 16 year old, Tendulkar has been a beacon for the new India. When India won the Cricket World Cup in 2011, an abiding image from the celebrations was of the Indian cricket team carrying Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders around Wankhede stadium. Tendulkar was not the captain of the team and the victory had been a team effort But for the players, the victory was a gift to a man, arguably Indias greatest cricketer and inarguably one of the very greatest in the world. Sachin Tendulkars story may have been told many times but it never stops delighting the cricket fan. In the 25 years that Tendulkar has played cricket, there is almost no existing batting record that he has not broken or no impossible record that he has not set. He has even changed the way money and endorsements entered the game. At the same time, his incredible batting skills have kept him rooted in the fine traditions of cricket. Some say that one runs out of words when describing Sachin Tendulkars prowess and achievements. Others may more emphatically claim that there simply arent enough words to talk about this incredible cricketer.

About the Author:-

Ayaz Memon, one of Indias most prolific journalists, brings with him 33 years of experience in sports writing. He started his career covering sports and went on to edit newspapers like Mid Day, Bombay Times and DNA as well as magazines like Sportsweek. Ayaz was also sports editor for the Times of India and the Independent at various stages.

          Coming to the review, I must say that reading about Sachin Tendulkar is always interesting and hence this book is another good book about him. Covering such a phenomenal and unforgettable career in just 73 pages is talent in itself and I must compliment author for almost discussing every fact of his life in these pages. You can say that the special programme which our Hindi media shows on Sachin for half an hour is nothing against these pages that can be read almost in same amount of time. This is a wonderful gift to present to your younger brother if he loves to play Cricket. May be he will start seeing Cricket as passion and turns out to be next Sachin Tendulkar for us. :-) The last pages is some wonderful work by author. The wat match fixing is discussed, it's evident that author knows how to talk his opinion and leave the topic without creating any controversy. Haha! In short, a good short book on Sachin Tendulkar.

 Thanks. 

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

Virat Kohli- Reliable Rebel by C Rajshekar Rao (Book Review)!!!

     It has been a long time since I have been away from books but finally, as my vacations have started, I am back to reading. I didn't want to start with a 300+ pages novel hence I begun reading one of the four books in a recently released series by Jaico Publication which is named- "Jaico Cricketwallah Series" after the column that Ayaz Memon writes. He is also the editor of every book in this series. In the first slot, the Jaico Cricketwallah Series has books on the life of Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. They are going to release more after seeing the response to these 4 books. Jaico is the only one publication house that comes up with such series. Each book is not even 100 pages which makes it easy to read about the life of these Cricketers in short. It's like reading a page of newspaper consisting on how they finally became Cricketer and an important part of the Indian Cricket Team. I am done reading Virat Kohli's life right now. He is been tagged as "Reliable Rebel" on the cover page of the book.

   

         In many ways, Kohli epitomizes the New Age Indian aggressive, sometimes brash but also a go getter with great clarity about what he wants. After making his mark at the junior level, when he led the Under 19 team to victory in the World Cup, Virat Kohli graduated into the senior ranks quite seamlessly and is now considered a pivotal player in the Indian team. He played a significant role in the 2011 World Cup triumph and has since matured into a consistent match winner in limited overs cricket and a highly reliable batsman in the longer version of the game. His brilliant fielding enhances manifold his value to the team. Rated among the best young players in the world today, Kohli's filmstar looks and dashing approach on the field make him hugely popular with both fans and brands. Not quite 25, he is sound on tactics, strong on fellow-player management and is already seen as the future captain of India.

About the Author

Ayaz Memon, one of Indias most prolific journalists, brings with him 33 years of experience in sports writing. He started his career covering sports and went on to edit newspapers like Mid Day, Bombay Times and DNA as well as magazines like Sportsweek. Ayaz was also sports editor for the Times of India and the Independent at various stages.

          Coming to the series, I am content with the way the first book has been written. It's good for the readers who do not like investing their time in reading 300-400 pages biography/autobiography of famous personalities. The book summarizes a Cricketer's whole life in just 96 pages which makes it easy to know the uprising of a Cricketer's career. Virat Kohli's career has been of just 5-8 years hence it has been easy to write about him in short. The way his Adelaide century is discussed shows how writer has focused on only essential landmarks which has changed a Cricketer's life. His moments when his father expired and he had to take decision to stay at home or play is beautifully narrated. Another USP of the book. The photo of Virat Kohli on cover page is very expressive. And also the synopsis is attractively written. Excited to read more books from this series.

http://www.flipkart.com/virat-kohli-reliable-rebel/p/itmdqgcs5wqj2vwx?pid=9788184955248&affid=abhilash23

 Thanks. 

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

‘Crossword Book Award 2013’ winners announced: 12 years of rewarding the best in Indian writing!!!

Crossword Book Award 2013’ winners announced: 

12 years of rewarding the best in Indian writing.

“Em and The Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto (Aleph)”  & “Boats on Land by Janice Pariat (Random House)” have jointly won  in the Indian Fiction category

“Righteous Republic by Ananya Vajpeyi (Harvard Business Press)” & “From the Ruins of Empire by Pankaj Mishra (Penguin)” have jointly won the award for Indian Non-Fiction

“Wisha Wozzariter by Payal Kapadia (Penguin)” & “Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami (Scholastic)” have jointly won the award for Children’s writing category

“A Life in Words by Ismat chughtai, Translated by Dr M Asaduddin (Penguin)” has won it in the Indian language Translation category

“The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian (Rupa Publications)” has won the Popular Award.

     

Ananya Vajpeyi winning Non-fiction award

  The finest of Indian Literature took center stage at “CROSSWORD BOOK AWARDS 2013’ as the country’s finest writers and their books were honoured at a glittering award function in Mehboob studios, Mumbai.  It was hosted by Suchitra Pillai and the evening included a memorable performance by percussionist Taufiq Qureshi.

       Notably, the popular award winner Ravi Subramanian, described by Wall Street Journal as the 'John Grisham of Banking" is on a hatrick. He had also bagged the popular award for his book, "The Incredible Banker" at the last awards, and now has again won it for "Bankster". He thanked Crossword for providing a supportive platform for authors.

           Jerry Pinto also pledged his prize money to an NGO "Meljol" for children. The 12th

Dr M. Asaduddin

edition saw an outstanding response, from the various distinguished writers, publishers, critics and book-lovers who enjoyed the biggest celebration of Indian literature. 

          Shortlisted authors Rahul Pandita,  Rashmi Bansal, Ravi Subramanian, Arunava Sinha, Jerry Pinto,  Janice Pariat, Anand Neelkantan, Anuja Chauhan, Ananya Vajpeyi, Himanjali Sankar, Payal Kapadia, Ranjit Lal, Dr M Asaduddin, Anchita Ghatak, Rabisankar Bal were present at this well-attended event.

The august jury, comprising several well known names in Indian literature such as Dilip Kumar, Antara Datta, Rita Kothari, Deepak Dalal etc was also present.

          R Sriram, Founder Crossword said, "With 552 entries, it is the highest number of entries ever received in the history of the Book Award. The entire judging process took more than 6 rigorous months which included shortlisting the books to announcing the final winner."

     

Janice Pariat and Jerry Pinto

      This year The Crossword Book Award 2013 followed the financial year module and considered entries published in India from 1st January 2012 to 31st March 2013. (15 months for  the entry process). For the next year, entries from April 2013 to March 2014 will be considered eligible.

About Crossword: 

         Crossword, with Eighty Four stores, across Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhopal, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Durgapur, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kota, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Nasik, Pune, Siliguri, Udaipur, Vapi, Vadodara and Vijayawada is India’s fastest growing chain of bookstores & has pioneered the lifestyle bookstore concept in India. Crossword was ranked the 6th most admired retailer in India by Business world for the year 2006; it was the only book retailer in the top 10. Crossword won the Reid & Taylor Award for Best Retailer of the year – Leisure & Specialty at the India Retail Summit 2005 & 2007& 2009. It also won the Star Retailer Award for the Best Lifestyle Retailer in Books & Music in 2011. Crossword won the Retailer of the Year Award - Leisure (Books, Music and Gifts Category) at the Images Retail Awards 2005 & 2007& 2009. Crossword received the Federation of Indian Publishers Award for excellence in Publishing for the year 2004 on 18th June 2005 at the hands of Shri Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Resource Development.

       

Payal Kapadia

 Crossword won the Debutant E tailer of the year - books - at India eRetail Awards 2012. In 2013 Crossword won the ET Retail Award for Excellence in Marketing award for The Popular Award.Crossword Bookstores Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary Company of Shopper’s Stop Ltd – India’s leading department store chain. The Holding Company inter-alia also acts as a Master Franchisee of the Company.

            The awards this year was Presented by ARROW and are in association with Principal Retirement Advisors and conducted at the Times Literary Carnival.

Ravi Subramanian

Taufiq Qureshi

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!