'AND ALL IS SAID'---- BY ZAREER MASANI ( PENGUIN PUBLICATION)

'AND   ALL   IS  SAID'    BY    ZAREER   MASANI

                                   ( PENGUIN     PUBLICATION)

This is the story by Zareer Masani of himself, his father Minoo Masani and mother Shakuntala. A family biography of sorts. This is a story  of achievement and suffering. A story of cultural sophistication and inability to apply the same in one’s family life . A story of three wonderful individuals who could not cope collectively.

    

     Firstly, it is the story of Shakuntala  Srivastava who was one of the three daughters of Sir J P Srivastava an industrialist during the British Raj, he was also a minister in the viceregal council who owned cotton mills in Kanpur. Shakuntala was brought up in the lap of luxury and tutored by foreign Governesses, studied in Nainital and welham girls' school , but revolted and fled to Mumbai in order to be different and independent. She was  talented and cultured, an art collector with genuine insight and interest in that subject, she  also wrote  books  for children and one of her biography on Nehru for children was very popular.

   The second story is of Minoo Masani who  studied in London school of economics and was  a barrister with left leanings  whom Shakuntala met in Mumbai. He had made a place for himself in the freedom movement, was the founding member of the congress socialist party and an associate of Jai Prakash Narain.  Minoo, later formed the Swatantra party and turned a right winger ,an original thinker whom our Prime Minister Manmohan considers his mentor/influence, he was an elected member of parliament from Rajkot and leader of opposition.  His father had come up the hard way and rose to be knighted and be the vice chancellor of Bombay university. 

      
    The third story is of Zareer their only son, fearful of his father and possessive of his mother,his sexuality causes him much trauma and tribulations. He contributes in the conflict between the couple arising out ambition,lack of commitment and temperament. The child too is torn on occasions  between the two religions and cultures - Parsi and Hindu, despite the apparent maturity of his grand parents from both sides.

    The conflict between the couple reaches a point of no return when Shakuntala joins Indira Gandhi in 1967 and canvasses for her whereas her husband campaigns  as an opposition candidate without his wife in Rajkot and loses. Thereafter their relationship leads to a bitter divorce which drags on for about two decades.

     

Zareer finds solace in London and becomes a writer  and later the incharge of BBC current affairs programme, he also wrote biography on Indira which was ironically banned during the emergency.

    What marks the book in addition to the poignancy of the story is the language of Zareer, so restrained, simple and yet polished and apt.

    The story is recommended for a film. Our audience is now prepared for some serious socio-political drama and the story of Masanis is ripe for celluloid adaptation.