Sunday book pick: In ‘Such a Long Journey’, how an ordinary heart travels in turbulent times

My first introduction to Rohinton Mistry was in class ten. The school library stocked his books and there was something about his 2001 novel Family Matters that appealed to me. We were allowed to borrow a book for a week at a time and I remember devouring the 400-plus page novel in a matter of a few days – quite a feat for a board exam year.

Over the next few years, I read his other books A Fine Balance and Tales from Firozsha Bagh. Mistry hasn’t written a book in nearly two decades so when I bought Such a Long Journey in 2021, I saved it as a treat for the right time. I finally decided to read the book a few days ago – the heat is unbearable and the screen tires the eyes, Mistry seemed like the friend to turn to on a tiresome day.

The Nobles and friends

From the very first sentence, I was reminded of why I love Mistry’s fiction so much. Lengthy descriptions of the Parsi life, South Bombay before it was SoBo, and humdrum of life which is simultaneously unexciting and poetic. The streets are dirty, there’s a permanent shortage of water, and the milkman expertly dilutes the milk with water – the residents of Khodadad...

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