Every four years, India's top athletes hope to see their countless hours spent in training and competition and the blood and sweat shed therein, culminate in an Olympic medal. Most fail. But it's their behind-the-scenes stories that deserve gold medals. All of them. Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta's Dreams Of A Billion—India and the Olympic Games (published by Harper Sport), is a fine compilation of just these stories and more.

Tale of two grapplers

The book introduces itself with an apt comparison between a fallen hero and a super star at the 2016 Rio Games. Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshil Malik—one, who promised to deliver the stars but was ousted by a freak injury and another, who grappled into the history books by becoming India's first women's medalist in wrestling at the Games. The two tales are summed up perfectly: "While Sakshi was feted and celebrated across India, Vinesh was left all alone struggling with an injury and an uncertain future. It was a stunning shift because Vinesh was supposed to be the star, whereas Sakshi was the underdog."