Meher Pestonji

Meher Pestonji is an Indian social worker, freelance journalist, and writer.[1] Pestonji has fought for the rights of the oppressed and underprivileged since the 1970s.[2]

Meher Pestonji
Born(1946-09-19)19 September 1946
Mumbai, India
Occupationnovelist, social worker, journalist
NationalityIndian

Early Life and education

Pestonji was born on 19 September 1946. She comes from the Parsi community in India and lives in Mumbai with her two daughters .[2] Pestonji's marriage broke up when her children were four and five years old. She chose freelance journalism after that to have the opportunity to expand her areas of work and contribute freely.[1]

Pestonji is a Psychology graduate and studied journalism.

Career

Pestonji participated actively in the campaign to change rape law in the 1970s. She fought for the housing rights of slum dwellers, children's rights and anti-communalism campaigns.[3] After the Babri Masjid riots in 1992–93, she took up to fight communalism and parochialism. She was a part of group of communal harmony activists who worked to restore the peace after the Mumbai riots in which close to 900 people died.[4] Around this time, she took creative writing as a career.[2] In the mid-1980s, Pestonji worked with street children and mobilised support for filmmaker Anand Patwardhan's campaign against slum destruction. During the Mumbai riots she worked with mohalla committees in Dharavi.[5] For her work, Pestonji interviewed scientists,businesspeople, and social workers.[1]

In an interview to Times of India, she called herself 'an accidental parsi'. Pestonji's stance towards her own community also changed after the 1992–93 Mumbai riots.[6] There has also been criticism and other interviews to challenge Pestonji's thoughts towards the parsi community. In a reply to her interview, a letter was sent to the editor talking about the bad taste the interview left o parsi readers.[7]

Works

Pestonji's writing is closely tied to her personal and journalist experiences along with the segment of society she is familiar with. Her storytelling is evident in the characterization of her work.[8] She has the below novels to her credit:

  1. Mixed Marriage and Other Stories Parsi , HarperCollins 1999 – This book is a collection of stories and provide an insight into a community living. Written with Mumbai as the backdrop, the stories also reflect the mindset of the city at troubled times.[5]
  2. Pervez, HarperCollins 2003 – This novel traces the political maturation of Pervez, a young Parsi woman based in Mumbai whose marriage to a Christian man has turned bitter. Coming from an affluent background, Pervez starts participating in an activist movement in the months prior to the demolition of the Babri masjid.[1]
  3. Sadak Chhaap, Penguin India 2005,ISBN 0144000245[2] – This novel is the story of Rahul, a part-time rag-picker, pickpocket and petty thief who takes charge of an abandoned baby on a railway platform. His story as the new hero within his street community and his struggle as he finds himself spiralling into a vortex of crime, abuse and loneliness.[3]
  4. Piano for sale, a play
  5. Feeding crows, a play
  6. Outsider,a play

References
  1. "Meher Pestonji – Biographical Sketch". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  2. "Pervez – Meher Pestonji". Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  3. "BookChums profile". Archived from the original on 19 February 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  4. "Times of Inida". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  5. "Mixed Marriage – India Today". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  6. "TROUBLED TIMES TEST THE WRITER". Journal of Postcolonial Writing. 43: 143–148. doi:10.1080/17449850701430465.
  7. http://tenets.zoroastrianism.com/toi33c.html
  8. "Mixed Bag – The Hindu". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
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