A palatable dish of sports

After Prof Muntassir Mamoon sent me a copy of the book, I thumbed through the pages as almost a child does to its scrapbook; for I have been witness to much of what historian, teacher, sports enthusiast, and author Kaushik Bandyopadhyay delves into in his Bangladesh Playing.

There was emotion (oh, what a glorious past that was), there was appreciation (the contributions of so many, especially that of the innovative Swadhin Bangla football team), there was inquiry (how could he have left out such an important aspect?), and there was doubt (cannot remember it really happening as narrated). But then that is common with any book that deals with events that have been fragments of one's life.

Here KB (most authors deserve to build their reputations on an acronym) runs a risk in his research findings as many of the actors, ageing as they are, are still playing (living would be a better portrayal), and (worse) discussing the events of their life over tea, peanuts and the occasional singara every evening at any darkened veranda of sporting clubs in Dhaka as well as the districts. Games and sports, despite our performance and achievement being inept in most, have been a Bangalee passion and remains so. There lies the justification of KB's choice of topic; it is living.

Grateful we ought to be that an Indian, although being Bangalee may have enthused him, undertook the pain of researching and writing on the history of sports in East Bengal/East Pakistan/Bangladesh. There are indeed surprising revelations that are the golden nuggets that lead the researcher to his pot of gold.

KB's work centres primarily around the urban centres and the mofussil districts have been largely ignored, although one may argue that the contributions of many with roots in the backward zillas have been chronicled based on published material, many of which are of recent years although he attempts to connect the present to antecedent history.

The author cooks up a palatable dish of football and cricket, spiced with our colourful society and vibrant politics, but he can be faulted for not emphasising duly on some other games that Bangladeshis have excelled in, namely chess, swimming, and golf; and field hockey makes a brief appearance. At places in his book he hovers all over Indian sport so much so that it is difficult to contextualize Bangladesh.

I for one will not be able to forgive Bandyopadhyay for mentioning English Channel conqueror Brojen Das first in a footnote on page 85, although he makes amends later on page 118 as an apology to the King of the Channel. Or, for that matter, for.

The book is enriched with wide references, but is guilty of giving a cold shoulder to the traditional and non-formal games of the region. Ha-du-du (lost in a merger to kabaddi) is a sad and unforgiveable omission when Bangladesh is playing.

As freedom fighters we are gratified for his elaborate coverage of the Swadhin (independent) Bangla football team, a source of immense inspiration during our War of Liberation 1971.

He does well to slide naturally from the dominance of football in pre- and post-independence Bangladesh to this nation's rise to international name and fame in sport through the game of cricket over the last two decades. But again, as an author of 'Bangladesh- A Test Case' (BCB, January, 1997) that formed a major part of Bangladesh's application to the ICC for ODI and Test status, and having on both occasions presented Bangladesh Cricket Board's case Live to two different ICC inspection teams, I do feel left out from this important souvenir of our sport.

The photo section with the bulk coming from this century does no justice to the history that KB's book is about. It reflects poorly on the publication's graphics and composition after being included as the 12th man. The photographs department would have taken the book to greater heights with the presence of a few celebrities from different sports, the Liberation War, and some of the major contributors. Cricket, although big-time now, has still not attained the status to singly adorn the cover when a book is about Bangladesh Playing.

Dr. Nizamuddin Ahmed is an architect and critic.