Book Description

“Behram’s Boat” is a funny, whimsical story of one eccentric, cranky old Parsi's struggle to build a boat that will save his people. And bring meaning to his life. Not a modern ship, but a traditional boat of wood and sail, that will retrace the historic voyage of the Parsis when they first came to India. But this time, the other way around: from Sanjan in India all the way to Iran. Behram's grand plan involves filling his boat not with refugees, but with young Parsi couples, who he hopes will fall in love during the voyage, and... well, contribute to the growth of their tribe. In a scheme that is both mad and hopeless, yet strangely heroic and moving, Behram Rustomjee battles all odds: from the challenges of hard labour under a relentless sun, on a black swamp of a beach to threats to his very life from people who say he is building a filthy "Sex Boat". For a man who has achieved not very much, Behram Rustomjee, for once, is determined to make his life mean something. But. Will the world allow him to build and sail his dream? “An enchanting pen-portrait – at once hilariously funny and painfully poignant – of not just an engagingly eccentric individual – a tragi-comic latter-day Noah – but of an entire community, and a way of life which is fast disappearing.” - Jug Suraiya