Light lessons

Prerna Prakash — Inspiration and Light by Noshir Daboo. Published in 2001 in Gujarati by Bazme Jashene Ruhe Behram, Naoroji Hall, Shahibaug, Ahmedabad 380004. Pp: x + 98. Price: Rs 20.

This is the second anthology of Parsi religious topics to have come my way within a short time. The first one by Rusi Besania of Surat has by now a translation in English.

Noshir Daboo is popular with the Parsi readers of Jam-e-Jamshed. He has written several books in Gujarati, some of them reviewed by this reviewer. Prerna Prakash I believe is the latest, a collection of 15 topics related to the Zarathushti religion.

As mentioned by the author himself, he has exploited different literary forms — the short story, essay, poems, etc for expressing his views. As for instance "Dadar-ni-Dyanat”. (To begin with, ‘dyanat’ is not a very happy choice of word to be applied to Dadar Ahura Mazda, used as it is here to relate the unimaginable creation of the Creator of this world.) Or take some of the others: "Humn Tamne Puchhun”, "Chalo Patta Ramie”, "Mari Prarthnani Pothi”, "Khuda Ahinj Ché”, "Panjana Parak­ram” etc. Each one is a religious topic articulated in a different literary form.

The question to consider therefore is, has such an exercise by the writer proved successful in throwing light on the subject at hand? Has he lucidly conveyed his views to his readers? This reviewer feels that though Daboo has made an attempt to express himself on religious topics through poems and stories, he is better as an essayist. In my opinion, the dream sequence, "Arda­farvash Sathe Interview,” is the best.

Prerna Prakash could have given more inspiration and light. The topics selected by the author are interesting and readable, but he needs to be more practised in the art forms he adopts. There are not many good poems in Gujarati literature on religious themes but those which are good are first rate as they have been written by poets like Narshing Rao Donelist and Kavi Khabardar.

Hormazdyar S. Dalal