Book Review: Pullela Gopichand- The World Beneath His Feat

Pullela Gopi Chand – The world beneath his feat
Sanjay Sharma and Sachi S Sharma
Rupa Publications
Edition: Hardcover
ISBN: 9788129119001
Pages: 311
Price: 495

The soft spoken Pullela Gopi Chand has been quite approachable throughout his life. However, on the badminton court, this meek individual suddenly turns into a ruthless, deadly force that his opponents find difficult to handle. Thanks to Sanjay Sharma and Shachi S Sharma’s book, Pullela Gopi Chand – The world beneath his feat, this ruthless side of the gentlemanly shuttler is brought to fore.

The book can be considered a true biography of Gopi Chand. It explores each and every facet of the man’s life. The writers have given details of his childhood days. They speak of how, born to Pullela Shubhash Chandra, a field officer in a bank Gopi on November 16, 1973 in Andhra Pradesh; Pullela had an early fascination for badminton. They speak of how he would listen to all would do only what he felt like. How badminton had become a passion in Ongole itself but was fuelled by the proximity to a stadium when he moved to Hyderabad.

They throw in interesting titbits like how in his childhood days he was called 'Mr. Casualty'. He would always be suffering from some injury or the other but would recover quickly and be back on the courts in no time. This continued even into his professional days. At the age of 13 he had suffered a ligament rupture and when he went to play Pune national games in 1994 he had career threatening knee injury. But both the times Gopi came out stronger.

The book is also a deep and comprehensive analysis of a megastar who refused to accept defeat in his life. From his sporting days to his present coaching days, he has believed in one thing only - “He has to win in whatever he does”. It is never an easy task to reach such height from such humble beginnings.

The career threatening injury in 1994 national games in Pune and Pullela's fight to get back into the badminton court is a very inspirational story nicely narrated by Sanjay Sharma and his daughter which can be read thousand times by an aspiring sports person to remain motivated during tough times.

The book throws up touching images of help and support from family. Says mother Subbaravamma, “This was the not first time. Previously also, I had to mortgage some of my jewellery to ensure that Gopi wore the colours of India”. Actually, she was quoting the Rs 20,000 which Pullela had to shell out to participate in an international tournament.

The writers have quoted his idols and coaches to get a clearer glimpse of the man. He never idolised the big names of Indian badminton. Instead he was influenced by the hard work of Dipankar Bhattacharya and gritty presence of George. He was always impressed with the work ethics of these greats. Coach Mohammad Arif, who had seen the rise of Gopi from close, is also quoted. At one place Mohammad Arif says, “Gopi always wanted to push himself and this quality of his drew a lot of attention. He was never tired and always raring to have a go at anything.”

Though the book is the authorised biography of Pullela Gopi Chand but it rightly mentions the name of other stalwarts of this game who brought glory for Indian Badminton. Sanjay Sharma writes, “Indian Badminton, in fact, statistically speaking must have produced probably the largest number of top ranked players in the world as compared to other disciplines. Before Gopi other stalwarts of this game were Syed Modi, Prakash Padukone, Nandu Natekar, Prakash Nath.”

Former national badminton champion and coach Sanjay Sharma and his daughter Shachi Sharma couldn't hide their frustration while compiling this book. The writers in their acknowledgements have written that “Writing a biography on a non-cricketing person in the country can be easy but getting it published in the cricket crazy country is a herculean task.”

However, once it got printed, the end product is fantastic. Every page of the book highlights that the writer, Sanjay Sharma and Shachi Sharma, have done remarkable research on Gopi's life and his achievements. They must have spent hours in getting the minuscule details of Gopi's life. A book of this standard can come only when an extensive interviews of all who came in contact with Gopi in the differebt st5ages in his life has been taken.

The book is forwarded by non other than Gopi's special disciple Saina Nehwal. In the closing lines Saina writes, “Gopi Sir is a major icon of young India. If the youth can emulate even a fraction of what he achieved, of what he is in real life, we will become a better people.” Saina's words are indeed a true tribute to a legend like Gopi Chand and the writers do well to capture the life of the badminton legend. This is a must read book for all.