Twenty-one-year-old Kabir Menon loves living in Hyderabad, has no idea what he wants to do with his life and believes that his fate is inexorably linked to the fortunes of the Indian cricket team. In the land of super-powered deities, the only ones that matter to him are gods made on the cricket pitch.
But when divisive forces unspool the peace ...in his multi-cultural community, Kabir unwittingly finds himself embroiled in the conflict. Forced to move to Mumbai, he navigates love, purpose and a sense of belonging amongst a colourful cast of characters. The ensuing coming-of-age story is an unforgettably hilarious and pacy rendering of what it means to find your place in the world and the choices you make to get there.
Set at the turn of the millennium when India was shifting gears, Amrish Kumar?s sparkling debut is a story of many firsts ? in equal parts charming and convincing.
Amrish Kumar is an entrepreneur who has spent over a decade working in Indian textiles as the managing director of brand ‘Ritu Kumar’. His desire to be heard have resulted in him building a record label, an internet film venture and leaving a trail of long suffering friends and family. He has an MBA and is a fellow of the Aspen Institute. Gods of Willow is his first novel.
Amrish Kumar is an entrepreneur who has spent over a decade working in Indian textiles as the managing director of brand ‘Ritu Kumar’. His desire to be heard have resulted in him building a record label, an internet film venture and leaving a trail of long suffering friends and family. He has an MBA and is a fellow of the Aspen Institute. Gods of Willow is his first novel.
Amrish Kumar is an entrepreneur who has spent over a decade working in Indian textiles as the managing director of brand ‘Ritu Kumar’. His desire to be heard have resulted in him building a record label, an internet film venture and leaving a trail of long suffering friends and family. He has an MBA and is a fellow of the Aspen Institute. Gods of Willow is his first novel.
Amrish Kumar is an entrepreneur who has spent over a decade working in Indian textiles as the managing director of brand ‘Ritu Kumar’. His desire to be heard have resulted in him building a record label, an internet film venture and leaving a trail of long suffering friends and family. He has an MBA and is a fellow of the Aspen Institute. Gods of Willow is his first novel.
ISBN
9788186939970
Binding
Paperback
Page Extent
316
Weight (kg)
0.3
Height (in)
8
Width (in)
5
Subject
Fiction
Published Date
15/09/22
Publisher
Roli Books
Reviews
The Hindu
Published Date:- November 11, 2022
Using Indian cricket as the spine, Amrish Kumar tells a coming-of-age story in his book Gods of Willow. The tale draws an arc from Hyderabad to Mumbai with the protagonist Kabir Menon going through a series of life-alterations. Through him, we observe India of the 1990s and early 2000s.The sweeping gaze takes in all, be it politics, cricket, media, communalism and then juxtaposes it with personal facets like adolescence, first love, childhood friendships and even wretched office politics. The initial part deals with Kabir’s college days with its underpinnings of cricket and a tender romance. A batter fancying his chances of playing for Hyderabad, he realises that life is never easy.
...an engrossing story that captures, in fluent and moving prose, so many angles of Indian life – cricket, religion, love, dislocation, communal violence, ethics, values, and more – in language that is vivid and lyrical.
HT Brunch
Published Date:- October 3, 2022
Amrish chose cricket as one of the themes of his book because he wanted it to be light and meaningful at the same time. “When I say light, I mean a little witty and humourous,” he adds as a disclaimer. “As a cricket fanatic in my teens, I went through that process of euphoria mingled with despair that a sports fan goes through regularly and it was so woven into our communities and cultures that it just became an interesting device to use. It sounds scientific but, in the beginning, I didn’t know what I was doing.”