By

Armin Wandrewala

Armin Wandrewala’s new novel, THE MOMENT OF THE BANYAN, was released in India by Vakils, Feffer & Simons Pvt Ltd on Jamsheedi NoRuz, March 2025.

The Moment of the Banyan spans a century, from 1895 onwards, regaling the readers with the stories of an extended, multi-generational Parsee Zoroastrian Family:  their lives, loves, hates, betrayals, sacrifices, trials, and tribulations, family interactions  – a very human story, which will resonate with all humankind, with well-rounded characters who will draw the reader into their lives!

Woven into the novel are also stories of the Parsee / Irani Zoroastrians, their rites and rituals, reet rivaaj, culture, cuisine, language, eccentricities, also their ways of life in the agrarian villages of Gujarat:  the gaams,  towns like Navsari, Surat, Udvada, the then Bombay, the diaspora abroad.  The novel also gives an insight into various aspects of the Zoroastrian religion, and also some of the controversies concerning this minuscule but vibrant and visible community.

Written by an author acclaimed for her use of language, and ‘Arminesque’ humour, as one critic has put it. This is a work that encompasses, documents, and preserves the  stories relating to the Parsee / Irani Zoroastrians  that need to be preserved, lest they be lost to time.

This Novel, published by Vakils Feffer & Simons Pvt Ltd,  is available worldwide online, and  also  in Bookshops in India  and from the Publishers.  Cover painting by Vyoma Parikh.