From Mohenjodaro to Narendra Modi

India My India traces the countrys history from Mohenjodaro to contemporary times IllustrationRavi JadhavWhat makes Farrukh Dhondy witty When you ask the 72yearold IndianBritish writer and columnist he says It comes as a shockhellipthat you elevate my silliness to the status of wit Nevertheless Dhondy who for years has regaled Indian readers with his chuckleworthy opinion is now extending bright wisdom to history His new book India My India Rumour Books India traces the countrys story from where it first began mdash MohenjodaroWith a funny narrator in the drivers seat this history class doesnt have a dull moment That the UKbased writer initially planned to call the book India for Idiots but changed his mind is comforting In an email interview from London where he lives with his family he tells us why he pored over hundreds of textbooks to factcheck his opinionEdited excerptsYouve written fiction before This appears to be your first attempt at writing an Indian history book Why the shiftIt is my first stab at a history book but not my first nonfiction work I originally thought of it as a history primer for my daughters and son who are halfIndian halfBritish They visit India see their aunts and cousins do what Europeans do on the beaches of Goa sit on the bench where Princess Diana was photographed at the Taj cruise around Rajasthan and relish Indian cuisine I wanted them to be more familiar with the history that they were oblivious to and started this book which I called India for Idiots Friends said it might prove an ideal guide for visitors to India so I did add appendages to the chaptersFarrukh Dhondy started writing the book as a history primer for his halfIndian halfBritish childrenHow do you consider your work different from the academic kind of historyI have included in the book some fanciful mythological stories or even folktales passed on by my father granduncle or teachers For instance acknowledging that its just a story Ive included the legend of the young architect of the Taj Mahal who was blinded by Shah Jahan after the building was complete One version says the emperor did it to prevent him making another such monument The alternative story is that Shah Jahan heard the rumour that the architect was in love with the Queen and had drawn his inspiration from that obsession The Emperor then in jealous rage blinded him but the young man with blood streaming down his cheeks confessed or boasted to the emperor that he had left a single engineering flaw in the dome of the Taj through which one raindrop would escape each monsoon and fall in sorrow on the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal Bull stuff Yes but movingWhats your favourite moment in Indian historyOne proud moment in Indias history is Pandit Nehrus Tryst with Destiny speech to the nation at the moment of independence from British colonial rule He said at the stroke of midnight while the world sleepshellip India awakeshellip etc Im sure that Panditji knew that at the stroke of midnight in India America Japan and a lot of the world was not asleep but wide awake and going about their business Perhaps he was thinking of the siesta nationsYoure most known for your sense of humour especially in your columns How much of that has seeped into the bookOne of my favourite Raj Kapoor films is Mera Naam Joker which depicts the sad side of the clown However it comes as a bit of a shock to me that anyone would elevate my silliness to the status of wit Ive just been reading an essay by Lytton Strachey Who this cybergeneration might well ask in which he says that Dostoevsky should be known for his sense of humour Doom and Gloom Dosto Crime and Punishment Fyodor OK I am content to be in such company And no there are no jokes though there might be some howlers which no doubt Willy Dalrymple Roddy Matthews and other historians will point out in my stab at Indias historyTheres a lot of ground that you have covered right from the Indus Valley Civilisation to post Independence How much time and material did you invest in thisIt is truly Mohenjodaro to Modi its alternative title But then one or the other of the Ms may have been unhappy at being included in the same phrase Yes I read a lot of books and even went to a library after yearsNow that youve written a history book do you see yourself teaching this in the classroomA classroom Not again I used to be a schoolteacher but all that is outlined in my very readable fractionofanautobiography called London Company Ai Shuddup yaar No advertising here