Lucky-Anil Nayar's Story

A Portrait of a Legendary Squash Champion

Jean Nayar

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English

Five Rivers Press
01 May 2020

Biography: sport; History; Archaeology; Sociology: sport & leisure; Squash & racketball

In London in 1965, Anil Nayar made history by becoming the first Indian to gain world champion status in his sport when he captured the Drysdale Cup, the prize awarded to the winner of the event then regarded as the world championship tournament for juniors in squash. This newly released biographical memoir on his life and sports career written by Jean Nayar, the star player's wife, traces Nayar's groundbreaking journey from Punjab to Cambridge to Bombay to New York City over the course of his four-decades-long career, which brimmed with accolades and champion titles around the globe.

It's a sports story, of course, with squash as its centerpiece and fame and honors while playing as a champion at Harvard and around the world as its crowning glory. Beyond sports, however, it's a chronicle of a cross-cultural experience through the lens of the pioneering player as he charted a course through an elite sport and built bridges among people of different cultures and classes. It's also a tale of a man from the Land of Five Rivers uniting with a woman from the Land of 10,000 Lakes to share memories of an exhilarating adventure filled with frictions, tensions, accomplishments, and joys.

Widely recognized as India's greatest squash player, Nayar's unlikely story begins in the environs of Bombay's glittering Queen's Necklace, where his family moved to escape the hostilities near the newly minted border between Pakistan and India in the wake of partition when he was just a baby. As a roly-poly child, few would have guessed that the plump and insecure youngster would emerge as a world-class sportsman. But the proximity of his family's home to the renowned Cricket Club of India all but sealed his fate as he strove to shed his excess weight and adolescent anxieties.

Laced with the memories of dozens of top players, coaches, family members, and friends, this engaging tale not only provides a valuable record of the role Nayar played in the history of squash but also highlights an ongoing intercultural exchange between India and America that was fostered in part by this pioneering player. It illustrates, too, the champion sportsman's continuing commitment to uplift India's poorest children through sport.

Nayar's journey also exemplifies how a person born into a context of hatred and division can choose instead to become a unifier through generosity and high-minded sportsmanship, and this inspiring biography on his life and sports career offers a refreshing counterpoint to today's trends towards regressive nationalism and identity-based hostility in our complex global arena. It is sure to be a refreshing read for sports fans and culture buffs alike.

By: Jean Nayar
Imprint: Five Rivers Press
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 526g
ISBN: 9781734797305
ISBN 10: 1734797304
Pages: 358
Publication Date: 01 May 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jean Nayar is a journalist and author who writes about architecture, art, real estate, and people. A member of the Author's Guild and the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Nayar regularly contributes to various lifestyle magazines, such as Departures, Galerie, Interior Design, and Cottages & Gardens, and has written more than a dozen books, including Living In Style New York and Living In Style Country (TeNeues). She lives with her husband, Anil Nayar, in New York and Miami Beach.

Reviews for Lucky-Anil Nayar's Story: A Portrait of a Legendary Squash Champion

A celebration of humankind at its best.-Tad Friend, The New Yorker A cerebral yet sensitive tour de force on the pioneering life of an exemplary human being and principled sports champion in two countries and across the world, this uplifting and eminently readable rendition of Anil Nayar's sports career is written with tremendous flair, insight, passion, and professional finesse.-Khalid A. H. Ansari, founder and former publisher of the daily Indian newspaper, MidDay, and chairman emeritus of the Squash Racquets Federation of Maharashtra Told in a seamless manner with sweetness, insight, and enough objectivity to give it both emotional and intellectual integrity and impact, this memoir on a champion sportsman will be of great interest to squash enthusiasts in all countries, folks who follow sports of any kind, people interested in cross-cultural dynamics, those who lived through or have interest in the crucible of the '60s and '70s, and anyone who simply likes a good life story.-Thomas Webber, author of Flying Over 96th Street and Deep Like the Rivers This portrayal of Anil Nayar's legendary contribution to a narrow slice of global culture offers a vivid example not only of the unifying capacity of sport, but also of the uplifting influence of a stellar sportsman, one who played with integrity, artistry, and grace.-Sundaram Tagore, gallerist, art historian, filmmaker and heir to the cultural legacy of India's legendary Tagore family Anil Nayar's story is urgently necessary in today's fractured world. A legendary national squash champion in India and across North America, he bridged worlds and forged a deep legacy as a sportsman, as a leader, and as a symbol of cross-cultural diversity. Lucky is the gripping story of his unlikely and unsurpassed journey.-James Zug, author of Squash: A History of the Game