BENGALURU : Serendipity had a large part to play in senior journalist Coomi Kapoor’s second book The Tatas, Freddie Mercury & Other Bawas: An Intimate History of the Parsis. Just when she felt that she knew little about her community, a publisher approached her with a suggestion to write a book on Parsis. Grabbing the opportunity, Kapoor got to work, the result of which is a book that delves deep into the community that is dwindling in number across the world. In an interview with CE, she takes us behind the writing scenes.
Excerpts
What was the trigger to write a book on the Parsis?
A few years ago, I took a trip to the Parsi heritage trail of Udvada, Navsari, Sanjan and Surat and was ashamed to discover how little I knew about my own family roots. I started investigating and it became an intriguing journey of discovery. By a lucky coincidence, a short while later, a publisher asked me if I would like to write a book on the Parsis. I happily accepted, but I mulled over how I would go about the project. I didn’t want to write a dry history book or an encyclopedia of names. I wanted to tell a story about a fun community with high achievers who are ethical, eccentric, strong-minded, outspoken and lovers of life. I was also sure I didn’t want to write a story just for Parsis but for all Indians. When Ratan Tata fired Cyrus Mistry in 2016, I felt it gave me a peg for a story that many Indians would be interested in. The background and insight into India’s largest and most respected business house and the histories of the remarkable families involved in the dispute made a riveting start for a book on the Parsis.
What did the research process entail?
When I began, I didn’t have much knowledge on the subject. I started reading every book I could find on the Parsi community. But I am basically a journalist, so I needed original stuff and interviewed at length a whole lot of interesting people. I really must thank my community members; no one refused me an interview. Even in the Tata part of the story, all three main protagonists — Ratan Tata, Cyrus Mistry and Nusli Wadia — opened up.
Did you find a lot of stereotyping surrounding Parsis?
There were so many contradictions about people and issues that I had taken for granted. To cite just two — I did not realise how deeply involved Madame Cama was in the Hindutva cause and how she backed Savarkar all the way. I was brought up believing that when the Zoroastrians from Persia landed in Sanjan and met the Gujarat ruler Jada Rana in the eighth century, they were asked to give an assurance that the Zoroastrians would not convert others to the faith. This is incorrect. The Parsi Zoroastrians decided this on their own.
At any point were you concerned about how the community would perceive the book?
Throughout writing the book, I was more worried about the prominent industrialists, who can be touchy and are known to be litigious, rather than the community per se. Fortunately, if anyone has reacted adversely, they haven’t got back to me. Firoza Punthakey Mistree, a scholar on religion and the community and the wife of Khojeste Mistree, one of those who spearheaded the conservative school of thought, wrote a very sweet letter of appreciation.
The number of Parsis has been dwindling over the years, and many feel that the younger generation lives on past glory. Would you agree?
Hard work, ambition, enterprise, talent, a solid education and ethical standards have usually played a role in the success of many Parsis. I don’t agree with people who feel the younger generation has lost the spirit of entrepreneurship and are simply patting themselves on the back for past glory.
(The book published by Westland Publications is priced at Rs 454, and is available on Amazon)