Some Geniuses in Sports and Games

Book Review

Sitharaam Jayakumar’s third book is titled A to Z of Men and Women who Excelled in Sports. The 26 biographies were written for an A to Z challenge for bloggers organised by a blogger community. Jayakumar has compiled them into an elegant e-book.

One of the best things about Jayakumar’s writing is its eminent readability. To be able to write without placing obstacles between the writer’s notions and the reader’s mind is a precious gift and Jayakumar possesses it. Most of the biographies in this book read like fascinating tales that keep you glued. Even those who are not interested in sportspersons – people like me, for instance – will be hooked to this book precisely because of the way the author presents the lives.

During my childhood I was an admirer of Bobby Fischer because I learnt the subtleties of chess from a book written by him. I found the book in my father’s collection and spent quite much of my annual vacation on some of the challenging positions the book threw at the reader. The first part of the book also had some valuable instructions for the aspiring chess champions. I did not become a chess player of any repute. I did not even win any competition. (I never participated in any, so there was no question of losing either.) But I played chess with my siblings occasionally and later on with a few friends. Now when I read about Fischer’s life presented by Jayakumar I was quite stunned. Bobby Fischer acquired quite a different image in my imagination. “The twisted genius of chess” is what Jayakumar calls him and the biography illustrates the reason.

Jayakumar has chosen equally interesting figures for all the 26 chapters in the book. They belong to various sports and games. They belong to different generations. Most important of all, they all have some qualities or attributes that attract the attention of a reader who may not be particularly interested in sports and games. This is because Jayakumar knows how to tell stories. His first two books were novellas. I reviewed them both and mentioned in both my reviews that the author is “a good story teller”. That wonderful skill makes this book fascinating to read.

The book presents the complex dimensions of the characters it deals with. Look at this paragraph, for example: 

‘Not one to fear the white establishment, (Muhammed) Ali also said, “I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.”’

And here’s another example:

Sachin (Tendulkar) is sometimes irritated by the fact that he cannot walk freely on the streets of Mumbai, which is the price he has had to pay for the name and fame he has earned. He is known to sometimes take a drive around Mumbai late in the night after most of the city has gone to sleep.

Biographies of achievers always inspire us one way or another. Some biographies make us wonder about the complexity of human natures. Jayakumar has succeeded in capturing those complexities and that makes his book outstanding.

The book can be downloaded here.