Book Launch of M V Narasimha Rao aka Bobby's Biography - 'Bobby - India and Ireland - A Love Story'

Bobby was my skipper when Hyderabad won the Ranji Trophy. I played the first two games that year against Kerala and Tamil Nadu before I was dropped. The team went on to win the Ranji Trophy which happens to be the only time Hyderabad won the Trophy in the Post-Independence era. The same team also went on to win the Irani Trophy. Sometime later Bobby went away to Ireland to coach, stayed on, did a lot of good community work in Northern Ireland (during the Troubles) for which he was awarded an MBE by the British Government. Bobby had a successful stint in his second innings and became the only Indian Test cricketer to have been awarded an MBE. 

Bobby has always been a nice guy and always treated me well. We would joke about and he would get jokes during those days. I enjoyed getting him out in the All Saints XI vs Rest of Hyderabad match in 1987-88. He was one of those prize scalps one treasures.

Bobby kept in touch through email when he was in Ireland. A couple of weeks ago he called me and said he was launching his bio and would I be the MC. I am no MC and was hoping to have a chilled-out evening at the launch but one cannot say no to one's skipper, so I said I would. I read the book, made my notes, decided to introduce the book which is important, and also to perform MC duties. A meeting with Bob and his team of Swaroop and Venkat, and we got the event flow, sorted.

Me, Roger and Bobby (Roger was Chairman of the South Zone Selection Committee when I was a selector so I knew him from then)

Catching up with VVS

The audience

Yesterday was D-Day and I went early to the venue where I met Bob, his wife Josephine,Swaroop, Bob's niece Mamatha, and co-author Conor Sharkey from Strabane, Ireland. After checking out the place and how things would flow I met the others who started to trickle in - Vikram Man Singh to begin with. The guests came to the venue early (actually they came on time, which is early) -Roger Binny, CV Anand, Jayesh Ranjan, VVS Laxman. Most of the Ranji team came - Shivlal Yadav, Arshad Ayub, Abdul Azeem, Swaroop, Ehtesham, Suresh, Rajesh Yadav, Jyothi Shetty, Ramana Murthy, and with me and Bobby that's 12 of the 18. Those missing were Venkatapathy, Vivek Jaisimha, V Manohar, Khalid Abdul Quayyum, Affan, Arun Paul, Chetan Joshi. Would have been great to have got a group pic. I got a partial pic though.

Me - starting off the proceedings

All guests on stage - Conor Sharkey, C V Anand, Roger Binny, Bobby, V V S Laxman and Jayesh Ranjan

There was Abdul Jabbar, Bharath Reddy, Jayasudha, Imran Mirza, Keerti, Krishna Das, Vidyuth, Arjun Yadav, Mehdi Hassan, Moses, Srikanth, Srinivas (T Hub - my senior), Joel, Kanthi and others. After some early glitches with the generator, we got the program started and it went well. Jayesh spoke with great insight into the Ranji campaign, Laxman about his days with Bobjee sir, CV about the rock star he was and how difficult he was to play, Roger about Bobby's pranks, and Conor about Bobby's life in Ireland.

Co-author Conor speaking

I will share relevant parts of what I wrote - in Bobby's intro and in my introduction to the book so it gives some context. Firstly about Bobby's accomplishments

– played Test cricket for India
- won the only Ranji Trophy that Hyderabad won post Independence
- only Indian test cricketer to have been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to community service through cricket during the testing times faced by the ethnic community
- coached Ireland as Assistant Coach and laid the foundations for Ireland to become a test-playing nation in 2018, nine of the boys he coached took the field when Ireland played Pakistan in 2018 in their first match
- fought racism, was a member of the North Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities
- Started SECA or the Strabane Ethnic Community Association

Jayesh Ranjan

In my introduction of the book I mentioned the following

"Writing a book requires courage, honesty and with a biography, one needs to put out one’s most vulnerable parts out there. In days when bios read more like fiction, Conor has stuck to facts and ensured that he presents both sides of the story.

With books, everyone asks, why this book? What is different about it? This book is important because it is not merely about Bobby and his life and his achievements, but underlying all that it is a story of the resilience of human spirit. And Conor does a great job of “showing” and not “telling” which is the hallmark of good writing. Of anything actually. What the book showed to me, through Bobby’s life are three things.

C V Speaking

Firstly, that man’s true character shows up in adversity. Bobby’s greatest achievements – winning the Ranji Trophy for Hyderabad and being awarded the MBE, are outcomes of adversity. When he perceived injustice and unfairness, he fought and won the HCA elections, took on the administration and the result – the Ranji Trophy. When he saw strife in troubled Strabane, the most bombed town in Europe he used cricket as a medium to promote community spirit. The result – the MBE. Human spirit is about that - when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Bobby seems to get bigger when there is adversity, does his magic, and quietly goes away.

V V S Laxman

Bobby

Secondly, the book shows what true leadership is about. It’s not about winning the Ranji Trophy or the Irani Trophy Cup. It is about doing it with a diverse bunch of volatile players, a divided administration and still doing it. It is about creating a winning culture. I feel great leaders are those who by their actions, presence, and vision, change the environment and the people for the better. What was the Ranji team when he entered - and what did he leave it with when he left. A Ranji Trophy win. What was the private coaching set up in before he set it up first - and look at what St John’s has produced after he left. Laxman, Vihari even R Sridhar acknowledges in his recent book that he took to coaching only because of  Bobby. What was Strabane or Ireland cricket when he went there and what is it now. Great leaders are about consciousness, about being able to hold big possibilities, and the energies of people around them. This room contains many personalities whose energies cannot be contained by most – not in one room at least – Bobby can do that.

The book launched!

Thirdly, humility. Bobby has acknowledged everyone for the part they played in his life. His gratitude to his coach Eddie Aibara, his unabashed admiration for his idol the one and only, ML Jaisimha, and for the team that won the  Ranji trophy is touching. We were like a family he says, from the first match to the last and that one line makes me and D Suresh, and others who played only a few games that year, feel like we belong to the campaign. Thank you, Bobby and Conor for that.

Conor has structured the book beautifully. It is written in a very accessible manner yet retains a fine Irish charm with Conor’s voice coming through. I loved the research he has done about India, and Hyderabad and I am sure he met over a hundred people. There are interesting stories about how Ireland once beat the West Indies by bowling them out for 25 in 1969 in Sion Mills, a place where Bobby worked a couple of decades later. About how he met Prince Charles, even his early association with Ireland in St Ann’s, Secunderabad with Sister Arianne. I am sure you will all enjoy reading the book and discovering many wonderful facets of Bobby like I have.

Jayasudha, Bobby and C V

Clearly, anyone who has seen and met Bobby in the 80s and 90s knows that Bobby was a man of the world. He had this flair that reminded us of a rock star, a cross between Freddie Mercury and Lionel Richie, with an inclusive and progressive attitude which he carried on everywhere.'

Six from the winning Ranji campaign - Swaroop, (Vikram, was not part of that campaign), D Suresh, Rajesh Yadav, me,  Jyothi Shetty and Ehtesham

After the event, we all went to the lawns next to the hall and chatted over drinks and dinner. Met Bobby's childhood friends who were insistent that I take a selfie with them, some others who congratulated me on the job as an MC, met Moses and company, and slowly slipped away. It was a tiring but very fulfilling evening for me. Bob was busy signing copies of the books for a full hour after the event!