Memories of Dahanu Road

For the last seven years, a boy of Indian origin and Iranian blood, Anosh Irani, had been the centre of Canadian readers' interest. With his first novel The Cripple and His Talismans (Raincoast Books, U.K.) in 2006, followed by The Song of Kahunsa (publisher Anchor Canada), Anosh grabbed Canadian eyeballs. The latter got published in 13 countries and was a bestseller in Canada and Italy.

This August has proved a harbinger of good news for Anosh. The reason being that for the first time his novel is being published in India. by This third novel, Dahanu Road, a Harper Collins release, was launched this week by dancer-choreographer Shiamak Davar at DLF Promenade Mall, Vasant Kunj. Anosh, the playwright of Matka King, Bombay Black and the My Granny the Goldfish, feels happier to be printed in India for a simple reason. “In Canada, when people would ask me how many of my writings have been printed in India, I used to feel embarrassed,” he says.

Anosh's Indian connection is the essence of Dahanu Road too. The novel is the tale of a landowning Iranian clan and the Warlis, a local tribe. Zairos, a young landowner, gets the shock of his life when he sees Ganpat, a Warli tribal, committing suicide in his grandfather Shapur's farm. As Zairos gets into the matter, he finds himself falling in love with Ganpat's daughter Kusum, as also he hears some shocking revelations from Shapur about his family.

Full report here Hindu