Tales from Firozsha Baag

Abstract

In Tales from Firozsha Baag, Rohinton Mistry draws a make-believe 
Parsi world, Firozsha Baag, in the city of Bombay. He creates it with all its 
religion, customs, tradition, conventions, culture and even their food habits. The 
Parsis that resides in Firozsha Baag are different because of their religious 
practices and values. Set in an alien setting in Canada and at home in Bombay, 
stories present insight in dramatizing the Parsi world view, in relation to the 
levels of ‘assimilation’ and ‘Westernization. These contain topics such as 
families and their often problematic internal politics: cultural difference, 
(ethnic/hybrid) identity, and separation, problems of assimilation, feeling of 
otherness, Parsi rituals, customs and community consciousness. Mistry gives a 
picture of the impact of Diaspora on the lives of young Parsi protagonists 
abroad. These stories set wholly or partially in Canada and display to the 
maximum extent the image of the Diasporic aspect. In these stories, Mistry 
transfers the experience from India to Canada and the Diasporic strain of 
belonging to a minority group (Parsi) in India as well as in Canada.