Why the bawas call a hot girl Farida Fatakri

It's about her, not her community. But flipping through Poems Potpourrie and Parsees will help you learn how to cuss like Bawas do, love pets with the passion they do, and live it up like only they can

You always spot Bawas in a crowd. Whether it's the gait, the accent, the passion with which they dig into their food, or the joie de vivre they exude, a Parsi must stand out.

It's this strange uniqueness that Dr Ruzbeh Keki Mowdawala decided to celebrate in a book of simple, sometimes delicately satirical poems about Navjote and Navroze, Parsee births, deaths and tradition.

The book will be launched at an open-to-all event at Oxford Bookstore this evening.

In one section, this Mumbai-based pathologist pays homage to her deceased parents, loved cousins and adored dogs.

Dr Ruzbeh Keki Mowdawala celebrates the uniqueness of being a Parsee in her poems.

That's when she is not pouring her heart out in Death, a poem on the November terror attacks. "It's a gloomy thought for some; A happy thought for those whose job is done..." she writes.

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The poems make for delightfully light reading, but the highlight of the book, for some of us, is undoubtedly the Parsee glossary in the last few pages, where the secrets of Parsee slang are laid bare.

Read it and you can look forward to a hearty chuckle the next time you hear someone blurt, "Farida Fatakri", "Motu Monu" and "Rastano Rusi".u00a0u00a0
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How did the book fall into place?
I was working on a book on pathology, and saving my material on a pen drive. These poems, were just thoughts I had scribbled down. And then, I lost my pen drive. That allowed me time to go over this material. The book holds poems I had written between November 2008 and April 2009, and they appear in sequence since each was inspired by an event that occurred in my life or around me.u00a0
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Is there a message in there?
They are simple poems, some offering a lighthearted look at Parsee traditions. I Can is for kids, to tell them to stay united. At the launch, Meharukh Engineer, a third year MBBS student will sing it to music. And the one message I've always tried to convey to my community is that we need to move with the times. You'll see that in my concluding poem, The Persians.

The rule about marrying within the community, the vultures consuming the dead at the Towers of Silence... where's the rationale to all of it? To say that a Parsee who marries a non-Parsee, is polluted, just doesn't make sense. The vultures are gone. Let's accept that and find an alternative.
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In one of your poems, you've mentioned five dogs. They sound like family. Which one's your favourite?
Well, Tasha, who passed away when she was twelve, would be a favourite. She was a tan Daschund, affectionate even to strangers on the street. Atash, my champion Daschund is ten and very intelligent. You can actually tell Atash to fetch someone, by name, and she'll know who that is, and draw the right person to you.u00a0
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You've dedicated the book and specific poems not only to your parents but also grandparents.
Yes. My father worked with Air India for years, and I loved him dearly. The poem Dad is for him. He passed away 23 years ago, and my mother's parents practically raised me. My mother worked even at 80. She did a lot of work for the Savera School for mentally challenged. Yes, I suppose we are a close-knit group, so you'll find not just my grandparents but my cousins in here too.

Catch actor Boman Irani release Poems Potpourrie and Parsees at Oxford Bookstore, near KC College, Churchgate, at 6 pm on October 3. Farzana Behram Contractor will read excerpts

Where - Where?
My friend says There - There
I ask my friend how can you tell?
He says,
"Watch the nose,
Watch the clothes
Watch the shoes
Watch the face."
"The nose is long, half in the air,
The clothes are crisp and not a tear,
The shoes are shiny, lace tied tight
Hair pomaded
Face very bright."
I said, "That's a Britisher Jim!"
My friend said, "No."
He said, "Look at the back
It's so straight,
Look at the neck and Adam's apple.
Look at the face
Look at the complexion."
I said, "No" againu00a0"that's a Britisher Jim!"
My friend said, "Wait, let's talk to him."
My friend went up to him and shook his hand.
He said, "Sahebji, kem chho bawaji?"