Released on: February 29, 2008, 3:55 am

Press Release Author: Philip Spires - Libros International

Industry: Entertainment

Press Release Summary: The Colonel\'s Last Wicket by G V Rama Rao is an optimistic
novel about human relationships in India seen through a filter of cricket. A retired
army officer resolves to develop the bowling talent of a young orphan, a task that
demands love, devotion and perseverance.


Press Release Body: G V Rama Rao served most of his life in the Indian Navy,
switching later to the mercantile marine. He was educated at Andhra University, but
claims that his life at sea taught him much more than his schooling. He has
published many humorous short stories and a range of articles in Indian newspapers
and magazines. The Colonel's Last Wicket is his debut novel.

The Colonel's Last Wicket is a delightful story that uses scenarios and
technicalities drawn from cricket to add poignancy to a gentle but moving story.
This is not a book about cricket. It's a book about people, about their development,
their motivation and their identity. At the plot's core are Colonel Seth and Raju,
the former a retired, decorated Indian Army officer. He is a widower, proud of his
successful daughters, but still suffers a little when he contemplates what might
have been. Despite his medals, he was never promoted to the highest rank; his
beloved wife died; he never had a son. And he never achieved the distinction of
playing first class cricket.

Raju's life has been a thoroughly different story, however. He is an orphan, living
a life of poverty in a poor area. Of dubious parentage, even his peers and playmates
regard him with some disdain.

But Colonel Seth sees talent and potential in Raju when, by chance, he watches the
boy playing a makeshift game of cricket in the stubble of a rice field. Seth takes
Raju under his wing, encourages him and strives to bring his talent to fruition.

The book's subtlety lies in how G V Rama Rao uses different aspects of cricket as
metaphors to illustrate the nature of the boy's and the Colonel's struggles in their
joint quest. There are plans to be made, risks to be taken, gambits to be played.
The boy becomes a good cricketer, but not the top notch star his early potential
promised. Like Colonel Seth, it seems, he is destined to achieve some, but not
lasting recognition, a status perceived as merely "also ran".

As the boy matures, the Colonel uses a variety of motivational tactics to stimulate
his achievement. All of them work. All of them also fail, since they do not include
permanence in their successes. When Raju meets the privileged and beautiful Usha,
his adolescent male sensibilities respond, but again the positive effects she
generates are manifest only when she is nearby. When she is not in attendance,
Raju's downside undoes all the good work.

In contrast, Ramu, Raju's friend and fellow protégé succeeds with apparent ease. He
has a wealthy, comfortable background in contrast to Raju's lowly origins and caste.
Indeed Ramu seems starred with instant success. Raju, on the other hand, always has
to do things the hard way and, despite his obvious talent, keeps missing out on the
glory.

G V Rama Rao skilfully and subtly uses this scenario to make simple but enduring
comments about Indian society, considering religion, caste, class, commercialism,
social change, honesty and identity. He identifies corruption, back-biting,
recalcitrance and worse, all viewed through an apparent filter of relationships
within the game of cricket, but all with far-reaching, society-wide significance.

And so The Colonels' Last Wicket is far more than a cricketing book. Through cricket
metaphors it addresses some fundamental and serious issues relating to societal
relationships and re-definitions. India has changed. Its cricket has changed, and
these processes are accelerating. The Colonel's Last Wicket suggests that its author
is not totally trusting or appreciative of this change, but equally we are
ultimately left in no doubt about the depths of his optimism, for ultimately it is
the relationship between Colonel Seth and Raju, his ward, which endures.

http://www.librosinternational.com/author_garimella_ramarao.htm



Web Site: http://www.librosinternational.com

Contact Details: Philip Spires
Publicity and Marketing
Libros International, Carrer Agro 5, La Nucai, Alicante, Spain
http://www.librosinternational.com
Philip Spires is Head of Publicity and Marketing for Libros International
info@philipspires.co.uk