BENGALURU: It was an emotional remembrance of two brothers -- Dr Akil Kuttappa and cricketer Ashwath Aiyappa -- who died after drowning in Madikeri last April. Mentors, friends, academics, sportspersons and others gathered to pay their tributes and recalled the brothers’ contributions to society, here on Thursday.
On the occasion, Ashwath Aiyappa’s book ‘When God Bowls a Googly’ was released at the Chinnaswamy stadium in the presence of his parents Raghu and Anita Madappa.
Releasing the book, KSCA secretary and former Test cricketer Brijesh Patel said, “Ashwath was passionate about cricket and was on the probables list for the state team. Many books have been written on cricket, but none linked to spirituality.
“A majority of players are unable to handle failures and the author has made an effort to offer solutions to aspiring cricketers. In fact, the book can serve as a practical guide to many young cricketers,” he added.
Recalling his association with Ashwath, former Test and ODI player Abey Kuruvilla said, “He was team person and a great human being. Once, while playing a local match, despite being injured, he scored 89 runs and won the match for us. In his book, he has looked at the life of a cricketer in depth and traces how they become stressed out and how even their family life is affected.”
Ashwath’s book touches the lives of many people and also the human spirit, said Jacob Mathews of the Malayala Manorama group.
“In their short sojourn in this world, both the brothers achieved much in their respective fields. The book, which is on his staunch belief in building a career in cricket and how to overcome failures, was slated for release last May. But fate bowled him a googly when Ashwath died trying to save his brother Akil,” he added.
Ashwath Aiyappa represented Karnataka at the Under-16 level and was also a Ranji probable.
He played first division league cricket for several top clubs in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Apart from his sporting achievements, he was an entrepreneur and had co-founded a successful software company. However, he later sold off his stakes to concentrate on his passion, cricket.
Just before the release of his book, he died in April 2014 in a drowning incident. His older brother Dr Akil Kuttappa was a dental surgeon and a faculty member at Vydehi Dental college.