The Game Was Never the Hardest Part
Three boys. One game. And the choices that will define them — a coming-of-age story about friendship, football, and the emotional weight boys carry into adulthood.
Entrepreneur, Writer & Football Enthusiast
Devendra Garware is an entrepreneur, writer, and lifelong football enthusiast based in Pune. Shadows & Goals is his debut novel.
An Ironman and ultrarunner, he brings a firsthand understanding of endurance and resilience to his writing — the kind of grit that comes from miles run, hours trained, and ground covered alone.
When he is not managing his family business or training, he spends his time travelling, writing poetry, and being a devoted father — channeling the quiet weight of all those roles into stories about the boys who become men.
Three boys. One game. And the choices that will define them. Armaan has spent his life becoming what others needed him to be. Rohan grows up steady, shaped by a mother who taught him how not to break. Kabir knows what it means to be chosen, and what it costs to lose it.
On the field, they are free. Off it, the shadows wait.
And then, when it matters most, the truth is left unsaid. A decision made in silence pushes a life to the edge, forcing them to confront not just what they lose, but who they become after.
Shadows & Goals is a contemporary coming-of-age novel about friendship, football, ambition, loss, and the emotional weight boys carry into adulthood.
Every shadow hides a choice that shapes who we become.
The greatest game is the one played within.
Friendship is the truest goal of all.
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