Life in the Sunshine: Autobiography of an Unknown Cricketer — by T Satish
Publisher: Notion Press
Pages: 228
Price: Rs. 221 INR(Paperback), Rs. 99 INR(Kindle Edition)
ISBN: 978–1684666867
Buy here: https://amzn.to/2Loieuy
“Sat, Sam, and Trib (a.k.a Triple sundae gang) are teenagers and they love cricket. They spend most of their time watching and playing the sport they love. They dream of making their living in the sport.
When they are not playing the game, they put on their thinking cap and come up with alternate versions of important matches or provide parodic answers to questions that have plagued cricket fans over the years.
However, fate intervenes in their idyllic life. On 18th April 1986, Javed Miandad hits Chetan Sharma for a six in Sharjah and leaves their cricket viewing life in tatters. The after-effects of this fateful event, continue to haunt them for many years.
Their problems don’t end there.
Sat fails to graduate from school level cricket to state-level cricket. He is heartbroken by the loss of his dreams and faces a mini identity crisis.
How do the boys solve their problems?
Will the boys ever recover from that Javed Miandad incident?
Will Sat get his mojo back?
Come, join the heartwarming ride and find out the answers, as Sat takes you through his nostalgic memories of the sport and narrates his coming of age story, which is deeply influenced by the sport!”
About the author:
T. Sathish is an IIM Calcutta alumnus and works in Cognizant Technology Solutions.
Sathish is an avid sports fan and a writer. Sathish writes columns in the Cricket section of the WorldinSport.com, an online sports magazine.
He has published short stories named ‘Hang in there’, ‘Am I Free?’ on the Juggernaut publishing’s digital writing platform. Sathish lives in Chennai, with his wife and his son.
Sathish can be reached on his Instagram @sathishpgw or sathishpgw@gmail.com
My take on this book:
Trib, Sat and Sam — known as the Triple Sundae gang are neighbors, schoolmates, but the major connection between them is their craze for cricket, bordering on worshipping it as a religion. From school days to college days to settling in life, the story traces their love for cricket and growth from playing cricket in their colony to where life finally takes them.
The story also simultaneously gives commentary on Indian cricket team, the matches they played from mid 80s to 90s and evolution of everything connected to cricket. Change in the white uniforms to colorful play gear, new exclusive channels playing live cricket matches, commentators who are not ex-cricketers, extreme strategies from new team captains, everything that changed the face of cricket in that decade have been inculcated in the story.
The writer has put in a lot of effort to describe in detail all the matches played by the Indian cricket team as well as the fictional matches that the story characters take part in. The writer deserves a nice applause for these details including the bowling, batting actions of the players along with field placements and the technicalities involved. The ghost that scares Sat and Sam adds the required comic touch.
The first half starts with a bang but the story loses a bit of pace towards the middle part only to gather the required steam towards the end. The unexpected and not so conventional ending also adds to the story. The way the protagonist grows personally while learning from the international matches he watches and how he applies those lessons to his life are commendable. If you are someone who has grown up watching and loving cricket like a majority of kids in this country, this book is a must read. For all the kids from 80s and 90s, this book will be a major nostalgic ride. Pick this one to experience the coming-of-age journey of an unknown, not so famous cricketer who nevertheless became what he is because of the sport.
My rating:
4.5/5.