BOOKMINE: Koni

A poor but feisty tomboy, Koni Kanakchampa Paul. A fiery coach, with an eye for talent and a passion for making it shine. A championship that sets up privileged competitors against one who is constantly sidelined. The stage is set for an explosive contest. And a sport stops being just a game. In a city where sports clubs are guided by favouritsm, a coach with a dream, Kshitish Sinha, plucks Koni from a slum and trains her to swim. The spunky teenager battles her way past hardship, rivalry and humiliation to negotiate a decisive lap against all odds. If she fails, she loses everything that matters. And if she succeeds, she blazes a trail out of her sorry circumstances. For the first time in translation, this story of faith, grit and sportsmanship is a modern classic by Moti Nandy, the master teller of sports stories.