All things first, are never easily forgotten. But for former squash champ Anil Nayar, the first Indian to lift the Drysdale Cup in London in 1965, which was then, the de facto world junior championship tournament, memories of those glorious years often weighed on him. "It's difficult for sportspersons past their prime to reinvent themselves. There are very few who don't go through grief [after their careers have ended]," the 73-year-old says, remembering some of his landmark moments, in a telephonic interview from Miami Beach.

A few years ago, when Nayar's American wife, author and journalist Jean Nayar, on the insistence of their friend Khalid Ansari, decided to write his memoir, it didn't seem like an easy task. "During some of the early interviews that I did with him, I managed to get only bits of information." To make it easier for both of them, Jean asked her husband to write his thoughts down on things she felt were important for the book. "Once I gave him that assignment, the little gems of memories started unfolding," she recalls.