The Bat And Beetle Flew

- Suresh Menon

RAMACHANDRA Guha’s approach to cricket and cricket writing reveals more about the man than his myriad accomplishments in other fields. As historian, anthropologist, biographer, environ­ mentalist, or social and political commentator, he tells us about the world—and ourselves. But it is through cricket that he reveals himself. “I write on history to make a living and on cricket to live,” he once said.

Thus, he is a romantic who knows there was no “uncon­taminated past in which the playground was free of social pressure and social influence”. He is a fan only too acutely aware of some heroes’ feet of clay. He is immersed in the folklore and mythology of the game, but sees them for what they are. It is a rare mix of qualities existing comfortably between Pollyanna and Diogenes. Decades of writing about the game haven’t ruined for him its essential humanity.

For that is what connects everything Guha writes—hum­anity. Guha’s writings on the game are of a piece with his other work. The overarching humanity of his biography of Verrier Elwin (Savaging the Civilised), and the story of the evolution of modern India in A Corner of a Foreign Field make him not merely the accessible academic, but also a philosopher with a human face.

But this is no ivory tower philosopher. He responded professionally when the Supreme Court named him in the Committee of Administrators. His letter of resignation later exposed the cozy system of mutual accommodation that existed between the cricket board and its units. It was a fine piece of writing.