Friday, 13 August 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The Tatas, Freddie Mercury and Other Bawas: An Intimate History of the Parsis by noted journalist Coomi Kapoor was released at the Natraj Bookshop here today.
Speaking on the occasion, Coomi Kapoor said that the feud between Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry and the role played by Nusli Wadia, the blue-blooded chairperson of the Bombay Dyeing Group inspired her to write the book in an attempt to share some unknown facets of the community with the outside world. She added that it was a fun book and hoped that all readers would enjoy as much as she relished writing it. Senior advocate in the Supreme Court, Roxna Swamy, presiding over the book launch told those present that Dehradun had only about four members from the community and was happy that out of these, two were present in the audience.
After releasing the book, senior journalist Suhasini Haidar told a select audience that the book is well-researched, informative and brings out in vivid colours, the saga of a microscopic community to which the author proudly belongs. She hoped that the religion that has survived for so long despite all odds, will somehow manage to survive in spite of the declining number of believers with the indomitable spirit of the community not being easily snuffed out. She complimented the Parsis for the amazing and remarkable success that they had achieved in India and all over the world.
Natraj Bookshop proprietor Upendra Arora recalled his association with members of the Parsi community and said it was an honour for Natraj to have published the official biography of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and launch the book We the Nation by Nani Palkiwala, both celebrated Parsis of the nation. He said he was fortunate that the first book published by his publishing house in 1966, on forest engineering was written by Navroz J Masani, a member of the Parsi community, who was then posted in the Forest Research Institute here.
Former senior bureaucrats Surjit Das, Vinod Kumar and Kamalesh Sharma along with noted author and historian Roshen Dalal and other book lovers were also present on the occasion.
