By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 12 Aug: ‘The Tatas, Freddie Mercury & Other Bawas: An Intimate History of the Parsis’ by Commi Kapoor, noted journalist, was released at Natraj Bookshop, here, today.
After releasing the book, Suhasini Haider, TV personality, told a select audience that the book is well-researched and 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 would somehow manage to do so 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.
Coomi Kapoor, while speaking on the occasion, 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.
Roxna Swamy, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, presided over the event and told those present that Dehradun had only four members from the community and was happy that, out of the four, two were present in the audience.
Upendra Arora, Proprietor, Natraj Bookshop, recalled his association with members of the Parsi community and said it was an honour to have published the official biography of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and launch the book, ‘We the Nation’ by Nani Palkhivala, both celebrated Parsis of the country. 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.
Surjit Das, Vinod Kumar and Kamalesh Sharma, former senior bureaucrats, along with Roshan Dalal, children’s historian, and Nadir Faridoon Billimoria, senior resident, among other book lovers attended the event.
