Days of Gold & Sepia by Yasmeen Premji is the wonderful saga of Lalljee Lakha, who rises from a penniless orphan of absolutely humble origin in the vast desert of Kutch to amass fame and fortune as Mumbai’s Cotton King.
Talking about this grand story that took all of 20 years to write, Yasmeen, the rather self-effacing wife of Wipro man Azim Premji, said: “The novel took root in my mind after listening to the many captivating accounts that my granny, my mother and mother-in-law gave me of their childhood. I wrote the book because I had a story to tell.”
The author has successfully captured the period when Mumbai was not a bustling metropolis that had no time for its inhabitants, eve as it describes the 1857 Mutiny, and the Independence movement that saw merchantmen and royalty, the politicians and freedom fighters as bit players on a great stage. Lalljee emerges through all travails, including doomed love, as a stalwart of rare mettle.
Days of Gold & Sepia
by Yasmeen Premji
HarperCollins
Rs.399