“The Great Tamasha” by James Astill
is out. James Astill, the political editor of The Economist
and former bureau chief in New Delhi, has been a big cricket fan.
This is obvious when you read the first few pages of his latest book,
The Great Tamasha: Cricket, Corruption and the Turbulent
Rise of Modern India. In this book he likens himself to John
Howard about whom the phrase 'cricket tragic' was coined.
The book also gives a sense of history
which James has got while he appreciates India. James was in India
for about four years. Well, he also chronicles the tale of modern
India through the rise of the Indian Premier League (IPL). So it
might force you to believe that the book is in fact a historical work
written to make others understand modern India. He has caught India's
nerve and put it in the right perspective with rising trends here.
Therefore, James 'Tamasha' is partly a socio-historical book which
reads as if a cricket commentary. While people who have known India
and seen its gradual rise post the 1991 liberalization reforms might
not find it surprising, it is perhaps a very good source of third
person point of view as the West sees it. So this is a book aimed at
informing and educating others about how modern India sets in the
modern context. 'The Great Tamasha' explains India's economic
surge and obsession with the sport made it the dominant force in
international cricket.
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