The Hockey World Cup, being currently played in New Delhi generated a fair bit of excitement, at least amongst folks I know. The boss managed to line up some VIP tickets and invited me to watch the matches. A cousin too managed to lay his hands on the tickets and went along to cheer the Indian hockey team. A colleague at work too admitted to being in the stands supporting India.
Much of this support has been drummed up by a very effective TV campaign run by the title sponsors Hero Honda. They had their brand ambassadors Virender Sahwag, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Priyanka Chopra endorsing hockey and urging all Indians to once again fall in love with our national sport. India’s first outing with arch rivals Pakistan had everyone in a patriotic frenzy. That India gave a Pakistan a drubbing raised hopes of a stellar display in the tournament. The new Spanish coach appeared to be going over the moon, some corporate houses announced awards to players and it seemed that Indian hockey was all set reclaim its lost glory.
Alas! this turned out to be short-lived. The Indian team disappointed by losing to Australia, Spain and England and will now once again compete for the lower positions in the championship. That Pakistan is faring just as poorly is hardly any comfort. Needless to add a lot more is required to resurrect the magic of hockey. The World Cup was a great opportunity. Sadly, we have squandered it.
I had never heard of Timothy Knatchbull till I picked up his memoir ‘From a Clear Blue Sky’ from Crosswords Mumbai earlier this week. Since than I have been completely engrossed in his story. From his maternal side, Timothy Knatchbull is the grandson of Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India. On his paternal side, his grandfather was Lord Brabourne (Michael Knatchbull), who served in Mumbai (remember the Brabourne Stadium) and in Kolkata as the provincial governor.
Timothy Knatchbull was on the yacht Shadow V the day the provisional IRA bombed it . Lord Mountbatten, the dowager Lady Brabourne, Tim’s twin Nick and a local lad Paul Maxwell died in the bombing. Timothy and his parents were seriously injured but survived. This book is a wonderful account of Timothy’s journey as he revisits the tragedy. It is a poignantly written account personal account of coming to grips with a terrible loss, gradually reconstructing a life torn asunder and then carefully putting it all back together.
Knatchbull writes with a great deal of compassion and candour. His narrative is gripping, at times sad but without any self-pity. This is a ‘exceptionally moving’ account of overcoming a huge tragedy and moving on.
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