IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD

His autobiography is like him, no holds barred and a racy read thatmakes us feel ‘wish we had a life like this’.—Sunil GavaskarIn its broad, multifaceted sweep of events from his birth in Mumbai’spoverty-stricken Madanpura to a father who started life as an orphanand a mother from a penurious family, Khalid Ansari’s life has been anenjoyable and purposeful journey in service of his fellow human beings. Inthis ‘donkey’s tale—upar wala meherbaan to gadha pehelwaan (When Godsmiles kindly, the donkey thinks he’s a wrestler)’, Ansari has endeavouredto capture some highlights of a splendoured life which he has been blessedto live, catching stars while chasing rainbows.From starting newspapers and magazines; representing his country at theUnited Nations; accompanying dignitaries on state visits; covering cricketTest matches, nine Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games; travellingthe world; being honoured with the Padma Shri award—it’s been indeedla vie en rose.In this memoir, the author has been at pains to prevent this from deterioratinginto a ‘I-did-this-did-that’-pat-himself, shabash!’ hagiography or a dry-asdustpontificaltome, by ‘spicing’ it up with dollops of frothy anecdotes andself-critical bon mots even as he has attempted a discourse on the purposeof life, the ‘right path’ and the like.Since charity and service to humankind are now the author’s obsessionpost retirement, he has also dwelt at some length upon his private, selffundedcharitable foundation and on giving away whatever little materialpossessions his wife Zeyna and he have acquired in his lifetime.