Chase Your Dreams
By Sachin Tendulkar
Hachette India
₹299
Autobiographies are meant to reveal the character of a person — the early struggles, the success of yore and a swansong — all combine to put a career in the context of the times it is lived. Sachin Tendulkar’s ‘Chase Your Dreams: Young Reader’s Edition’ is an autobiographical work that caters to the inquisitive minds of the Master Blaster’s young fans in a manner, that is both engaging and educative.
The 246-page long book is interspersed with trivia about this generation’s most complete batsman and coupled with “Sachin’s Super-Tip” — again peppered through the length of the text — where Tendulkar shares his tips for success, hits the right chord with its intended audience.
Perfect presentation
It’s easy to forget, among the slew of closely analysed stories on Tendulkar, that a young reader’s edition is as much about the presentation as it is about the person being presented through the story. And that is the strength of this book — the key moments from Tendulkar’s stellar career is portrayed in the comic strips with snappy headings like — ‘Adventure with my Bicycle’, ‘Battleground Centurion’ and ‘The Sandstorm Innings’ — which make it easily relatable to the reader.
The nuggets of insightful information — Tendulkar’s various injuries, his trysts with different oppositions and hunger for success — are a testament to the biggest cricket icon who has shouldered hopes of a nation for over two decades.
The family man
The chapters where he talks about his children, wife and parents; the ‘message from Sachin’ where he throws light on how he ‘landed into cricket from a tree' - He writes, “This came at the end of a long string of mischievous escapades in which I played a leading or supporting role...” - Instances like these humanise the batsman, who for the most part of his career, has been treated as the God of cricket.
There are also some interesting and more importantly, easily comprehensible, takes on batting. On focussing on one end at a time, for example. Tendulkar says, “As a batsman, if I’m not consciously worrying about my footwork or my backlift or my wristwork, then I know that I’m in the right space. There's no time to think about both ends at the same time.”
Master storyteller
For a cricketer, who has made a living out of destroying bowling attacks, to be able to break down the skills to a bare minimum for the young followers, was a must and the book ticks that box.
Playing It My Way — the original autobiography — was criticised for being too reticent in its content; however, it’s this quality moulded with a refreshing depiction of Tendulkar’s life that makes Chase Your Dreams an enjoyable read.
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