Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry

In these eleven stories, Rohinton Mistry opens our eyes and our hearts to the rich, complex patterns of life inside Firozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay. Here are Jaakaylee, the ghost-seer, and Najamai, the only owner of a refrigerator in Firozsha Baag; Rustomji the Curmudgeon and Kersi, the young boy whose life threads through the book and who narrates the final story as an adult in Toronto. We see their passions, their worst fears, their betrayals, and their humorous acts of revenge. Witty and poignant, in turns, these intersecting stories create a finely textured mosaic of lives and illuminate a world poised between the old ways and the new.

The stories in this collection were interesting and well-written and effective and even fun sometimes, but it was the last story, “Swimming Lessons,” that really kicked the whole book up a notch. I was sitting on Sunday night with yet another so-so book for this class – good but probably not something I would ever read again or think much about – but then half-way through the final story I realized what was going on: Kersi learns to swim in Canada while his parents back home in India read and appreciate the very book of stories in the reader's hands. The book changes from a collection of linked stories held together by place and characters and theme to a collection of stories by one of those characters whose growth is hidden within and between the stories themselves.

“Don't you see, said Father, that you are confusing fiction with facts, fiction does not create facts, fiction can come from facts, it can grow out of facts by compounding, transposing, augmenting, diminishing, or altering them in any way; but you must not confuse cause and effect, you must not confuse what really happened with what the story says happened, you must not loose your grasp on reality, that way madness lies.”

Tales from Firozsha Baag is just that. Eleven stories, separate but interconnected and all concerning residents of Firozsha Baag, a run down middle class apartment complex in Bombay in the 80s. The residents are mostly Parsis, following the Zoroastrian religion, thus the stories involve the fire temple, prayers and practices unique to this community. It was also this authors debut publication, in 1987.

Each of the eleven chapters revolves around a person who lives on one of the three blocks, and the neighbours regularly feature so as each new character is introduced the reader sees them first from another perspective, and then their own. The stories are as varied as the characters - relationship issues, neighbour squabbles, the troubles of a lonely boy, immigrant tales, etc. The characters are well painted and interesting, and often set up a strong contrast to each other. Rustomji -the-curmudgeon, Dr Mody & Nariman Hansotia, Najami & Kashmira, Jehangir & Kersi.

Most of the eleven stories I found very good, there were a few which went on a bit long, but on the whole pretty enjoyable. There are more than likely autobiographical strains running through these stories with the author being Parsi, and also an emigrant to Canada. The final chapter makes the reader wonder all the more about character's parallels with Mistry himself.

3.5 stars rounded down.