Book Review: "A Way With Words" by Bharat Savur

Book Review: “A Way With Words” by Bharat Savur


Reviewed by: Gopinath Mavinkurve

For someone who has charted a successful career in all forms of mainstream media – print, radio and television and is all padded up for the silver innings of life, reminiscences of those opportunities to meet interesting people in all walks of life flashing through, would certainly be invigorative and rejuvenating. So it would have been, I imagine, for Bharat Savur, when wife Shalan Savur and his younger sister Dr. Deepika Savur Pandya toiled with the various cuttings of printed pages from the old newspapers and magazines, to select some amazing works published over the past 5 decades or so. With some apt notes penned by Bharat for each of the selected pieces, the book gets its fair share of juicy tidbits for readers to savour as he cruises through the different parts of “A Way With Words”.

The published works are interspersed with the author’s snippets about incidents associated with each of them, that very few have the pleasure of knowing. It is like having those “In the making of…..” juicy bits and pieces, a common feature while screening every new movie today. ‘A Way With Words’ by Bharat Savur, co-author of ‘Fitness for Life’ is not just a compilation of his past published pieces – it is a celebration of the life and times of the scribe who was just at ease with his cricket commentaries as he was with interviewing Bollywood Superstar Amitabh Bacchan or super-achiever Sachin Tendulkar when he was a promising cricketing phenomenon on the horizon that the world sat up and took notice of. The book offers to present ‘Musings, Mirrors, Memoirs, Moments, Mementoes, Milestones and More’ - and ends up doing all this and …. ‘Much More’ instead!

The author begins with his early days when his life was moulded by his aunts and uncles, his teachers, friends and some real achievers who crossed his path early in life with the gratitude that speaks of his humility and upbringing. The author has taken special efforts to thank each and every one that has helped him on his journey. Parents may have nurtured dreams of excellence in Math, Commerce and B-school, but his early attempt at dealing with figures only helped him figure out that these were not the figures that would shape his future. Weaving words would be his way forward.

With the opening up of electronic media, opportunities to feature in sports event coverage on television meant he would meet cricketing greats like Raj Singh Dungarpur, Khalid Ansari and Omar Qureshi, who appeared in the TV programme, “That’s Cricket” anchored by Ravi Shastri. Interviewing Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Clive Lloyd, Mohinder Amarnath, Sunil Gavaskar and several such cricketing legends was just part of the mass-media communication job that Bharat Savur took up on Doordarshan, the National TV channel in those early years, but the style of his writings made each piece live beyond its calling and stand out for its readers. Features about cricketing careers of Gavaskar, Dravid and Tendulkar as they fared bring back memories of the struggles and challenges Indian cricket faced in those days. Also featured is a piece about boxing champ, Muhammed Ali and how he changes the game that heavyweight boxing was, forever. Trust the author to stick to his wicket – as he ventures out of his crease to cover a piece on the ‘towering corruption’ at the TV Centre!

It is not only about just cricket, as the reader is treated to the classic piece “Amitabh Bacchan – The A to Z of being B” , the writer’s foray into Stardust land and a piece on AB’s look-alike Vijay Kumar Saxena, who banked upon this writer to introduce to the Real one – and have the meeting covered in the press to boot! All these wonderful experiences have been complemented by ‘Author’s notes’ which give great insights into how these features were produced and some interesting anecdotes about how his residential Society’s manager mistook Vijaykumar for Amitabh and the consequential favour Amitabh did once again for our journo, Bharat!

The book offers more varieties as the author covers subjects such as “Mumbopoly” a game of monopoly as adapted to the city of Mumbai and its inventors; a feature on the KEM hospital; a heart-tugging piece of the plight of children of slum-dwellers and how some social workers are tirelessly serving them for their betterment. You can never guess the journey will take you next, but you know you would be served with another amazing piece of experience - like the couple’s foray into fitness awareness and coaching, travelogues of their journey Kanyakumari and about houseboat stays in Kerala, as in Kashmir, until the path leads to Dharamsala, the abode of the Dalai Lama of Tibet!

Then there are some revelations like his contributions to ‘Debonair’, which were hidden from an adolescent sister on the insistence of his mother. His stint as deputy editor of the magazine and his earlier contributions revealed themselves much after his younger sibling had become a qualified doctor. There is also this amusing episode of Bharat introducing the first ‘Cri-fi' (Cricket Fiction, folks) with the production of “Sunny the Super-Sleuth”, a comic book series featuring Sunil Gavaskar as the hero amongst other known names in cricket featuring in it! Besides such interesting revelations, one can expect a liberal dose of humour and wit as the author narrates his experiences through his career path and inspires the reader to go and live one’s life, experience divinity and creativity and to make peace with oneself, in his last word.

Worth a read for all those, who relish shared experiences – especially produced from the heart.

The book, published by SHABD Publishing is widely available at several locations as below:

AT Mumbai

Kanara Saraswat Association Mumbai 13/1-Association Building, Talmakiwadi, J D Marg, -400007. Tel: 91-22-23802263; Email: editor@kanarasaraswat.in

Canara Union Office : 42, Canara Union Road (8th Main), Malleswaram, Bengaluru-560003. Tel: 91-80-23342625; Email: canaraunion@gmail.com, canaraunion_bgl@bsnl.in

Repro India Limited Mumbai : Marathe Udyog Bhavan,2nd floor, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, -400025. Tel: 91-22-24313256, 24313527

Granth Mumbai : H M House, 30 A/2, Juhu Tara Road, Santacruz W, -400049. Tel: 91-22-26609327, 26609337; Email: info.juhu@granth.com

Shree Book Centre Mumbai : 8 Kakad Industrial Estate, S Keer Marg, Off L J Road, Matunga W, -400016. Tel: 91-22-2437-7516, 24374559; Email: shreebk@vsnl.com

Strand Book Stall Mumbai :’Dhannur’, Sir P M Road, Fort, -400001. Tel: 91-22-22661994, 22661719 Email: shop@strandbookstall.com

V L Nayak Newspaper Agents and Booksellers : Station Rd, Khar W, Mumbai-400052. Tel: 91-22-26484082,64515450; Email: nayaksons@yahoo.co.in

Jyoti Kati Mumbai : A-18, Karnataka Buildings, Mogul Lane, Mahim, -400016. Tel: 91-22-24308031, 91-9699488567; Email: svkati@yahoo.com

Pramod Pandit Mumbai : A/3 Saraswat Coop Bldg, Kashibai Navrange Marg, Gamdevi, Grant Road, -400007. Tel: 9967701463, 91-22-23855062; Email: pramod1948@yahoo.com

AT Bengaluru

Strand Book Stall Bengaluru S 113-4, Manipal Centre, Dickenson Rd, -560042. Tel: 91-80-25580000, 3057761/2/3 Email: shop@strandbookstall.com

Anasuya Pandit Bengaluru : 201, Suryadarshan Apartments, 43, 8th Main Road, 14th Cross, Malleswaram, - 560003. Tel: 91-80-23347164, 91-8197571598; Email: pramod1948@yahoo.com

AT Pune

Shobha Mundkur, Pune :‘Induprabha’-Flat B, Ground floor, 13 Anand Niketan CHS, Karve Nagar, -411052. Tel: 91-9503059659 Email: mundkurshobha@gmail.com

A picture of the author,  Bharat Savur below. 
Pic Courtesy: Riti Menda.