Home Home | Picsquare | Your Account | Help | Contact Us
   

Boria Majumdar on his role as author and social historian

Bookmark and Share
Mr. Boria Majumdar is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. He obtained a MA from the University of Calcutta in 1999 and his D Phil in History from the University of Oxford. He has authored journals and books on the history and politics of cricket in India. His articles in the Times of India and Outlook have been much appreciated. Boria Majumdar was Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe University, Melbourne where he was associated as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow.

We at Infibeam.com got in touch with the author and spoke to him about his latest book ‘Sellotape Legacy: Delhi and the Commonwealth Games'. This is what he had to say:

• What inspired you to write this book? Tell us about Sellotape Legacy:
- It was a natural sequel to our book on India’s Olympic encounter. For me personally having taught mega events and legacy issues for well over 5 years, CWG 2010 was a natural event to work on. Mega events are fascinating subjects to work with and CWG 2010 was no different.

• How long did it take for you & Nalin to write the book? How was it working with Nalin? Share your experience while writing/researching for this book?
- Approximately 4 years of work has gone into the making of Sellotape Legacy. The research was difficult and painstaking. To get into the economics of the whole event, the ethnography in Delhi and the NCR region and then trying  to unravel the international dimensions of CWG- the story behind its origins,its political significance etc was fascinating to document.

Nalin is a dream co-author. We are the best of friends who know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and appreciate and understand each other’s pace of work. He is a fantastic human being more than anything else and I am delighted that we have now done 2 books together. He has just turned a father and many congratulations to him and my dear Nitika, his wife.

• What are the responses by your initial readers?
- The response to the book has been fantastic. People have loved the detail, appreciated the insights and enjoyed the journey with us. However, all of us would have loved had the journey been a little more positive rather than having to write about all of that went wrong. Media coverage too has been brilliant so far and I am delighted with the initial response to the book.

• You travel to major sports events all around the world. In your view, are we really ready to organize major international events like Commonwealth games? Will it atleast be a moderate success?
- I’d love to say yes. However, I really don’t know. The Caribbean too was underprepared before the 2007 cricket world cup and it left behind a negative legacy. Serious questions were asked of Athens before the 2004 Olympics. Media hysteria before mega events are a norm. But Delhi is unique in that with just days to go we still have a lot of work outstanding. So getting a really good ‘Games’ will be a near miracle. But miracles do happen.

• Do you think one successful major event can changes India’s sporting future & we might see many more Leander Paes, Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra? And if it fails then what else do we need to do?
- Absolutely we will if CWG 2010 is a success. People will want to play Olympic sport and icons always help inspire the youth. India winning medals at home will be the best way to encourage youngsters. If we fail it will once again be back to square one- a solitary saina, leander, abhinav who are products of individual brilliance rather than a system working to produce champions.

• Name few of your favorite books? Closest book to your heart?
- CLR’s Beyond a Boundary. I have read and re-read and re-read the book some 30 times. First time I read it I understood nothing. I now make sense of it. It is just brilliant. And this year I was fortunate in that I was invited to deliver the Frank Worrell memorial lecture at the University of West Indies and they have presented me facsimile reproductions from the original manuscript of Beyond a Boundary. I just loved my gift!

I read all and everything published on sport, it is a habit almost. Most recently I enjoyed reading Agassi’s autobiography, Open. It is different from the usual.

• Who is your favorite author?
- Difficult to say really, as for me it is someone who inspires me the most and I must say it is James. He tried to understand society the best through sport and that’s what I try to do.

• Infibeam is promoting your book at the national and international level. What are your thoughts on online retailers taking up such initiatives?
- I am delighted and grateful and these initiatives are always welcome. These are the innovations I am talking about—out of the box thinking, being proactive. I hope Infibeam makes some money!

• What is your next project?
- I am actually working on quite a few things—an Olympic collection before London 2012 happens, trying to understand the economic impact of the IPL on cricket, compare mega events like the cricket world cup 2011 with the IPL and understand which direction cricket is heading, working on my television work, which I owe to my dear friend Arnab Goswami…Also, trying to work in developing my foundation, the South Asia Research Foundation, established in 2008.

• A great scholar, famous journalist, cricket historian, professor and writer - how do you balance your life?
- I’ll change it to scholar, journalist, social historian, professor and writer if you insist-that’s generous enough. I just need to have my feet at the ground and do some good work in the next decade, work that will inspire young scholars who take sport seriously and work that helps influence minds. And my wife, a scholar of Indian cinema, sums it up best-work till you enjoy it. Beyond that I don’t. I am grateful to her and my family, my mother, sister and my son, bnatul (my Doberman) for standing by me at moments of crisis.

• Any message for the upcoming journalists/readers?
- Put in your best—there’s a real lot to do. Effort never goes unrewarded and often if you give your best days become longer and more enjoyable.

That was author Boria Majumdar on his latest book, flair for writing, and sports in India, in this insightful interview. He signs off on a happy note and we wish him the very best in all his future endeavors.


Tags :
Add a comment RSS feed for responses to this blog entry
Posted by Naresh Koshti on 11 September, 2010 11:52:33 AM IST #