Love Beyond 22 Yards — Sourabh Mukherjee
Publisher: Srishti Publishers & Distributors
Pages:47
Price: Rs. 29.50 INR(Kindle edition)
ISBN/ASIN: B07D181DGG
Buy here: https://amzn.to/2pPXxzj
Bollywood and Cricket, the two religions that unite Indians across the globe. When they come together, the attraction is magnetic. Through the years, heroes on the field have been bowled over by silver screen goddesses. Some of them broke conventions and defied societal norms. Love Beyond 22 Yards is a collection of immortal, true love stories between cricketers and Bollywood divas, who dared to fight against the world for their love.
About the author:
Sourabh Muherjee is the author of the psychological thriller *In the Shadows of Death: A Detective Agni Mitra Thriller* and *Romance Shorts*, a collection of dark-romance short stories. His books have been highly appreciated by readers, bloggers and the mainstream national media. Sourabh received the Golden Pen Award in the Monsoon Romance Contest 2014 organised by Sulekha.com and judged by an eminent panel of literary luminaries.
Sourabh speaks in several events on a variety of topics. His points of view in a panel discussion on serial killings, occult crimes and ritual killings in the Supernatural Literary Festival, Kolkata (2017) with the legendary Ipsita Ray Chakraverty was highly appreciated. He was also an invited panelist in a debate organised by Rotary Club, Kolkata on International Women’s Day, 2017.
Sourabh writes a column for *Sportskeeda*, India’s largest all-sport website. His articles have been featured in *Yahoo Sports* too.
An Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer from Jadavpur University, Kolkata with a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from School of Management Studies, New Delhi, in his day-job, Sourabh works in a senior leadership position in a technology consulting multi-national. Author of several publications on emerging trends in business and technology, Sourabh speaks regularly in various national and global conferences and technology summits.
A keen observer of human behaviour and cultural diversities, Sourabh loves travelling and has travelled across USA and various countries in Europe and Asia. An avid reader of fiction, Sourabh is equally passionate about photography, movies and music.
My take on this book:
The book has 3 major stories chronicling the lives of three star cricketers(captains) and their unconventional love stories with Bollywood actresses. There are 2 more couples whose stories have been briefly touched.
The first one is about Mansoor Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore, second one about Vivian Richards and Neena Gupta, with few snippets from their famous designer daughter Masaba, the third one about Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani. There are 2 short references to cross border couples Imran Khan-Zeenat Aman and Mohsin Khan-Reena Roy.
Each of the stories starts from the cricketer’s early life to their rise and success to the circumstances that lead to meeting their lady love. the controversies surrounding their life, and how it finally culminated, either in a happily ever after or an abrupt ending.
At less than 50 pages, and touching almost 5 couples’ lives, each of the stories only gives a brief insight; would have preferred a more elaborate account of these love stories. More of unknown facts and anecdotes. Also, wish the author featured few more recent stories also, as this union between Cricket and Bollywood had been a constant over the years.
Overall, the book gives a sneak peek into lives of a few celebrated cricketers and how they broke societal norms to be with the person of their choice. Go for it if love stories of cricket stars beyond their sport interests you!
My rating:
3.5/5.