''Such a Long Journey'' is a 1991 novel by Rohinton Mistry. It was shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

and won several other awards. In 2010 the book made headlines when it was withdrawn from the

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

's English syllabus after complaints from the Maharashtrian politician

Aditya Thackeray Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray (born 13 June 1990) is an Indian Politician who served as a Cabinet Minister of Higher Education, Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment for the Government of Maharashtra. He is also an MLA of Maharashtra Legisla ...

Plot introduction

''Such a Long Journey'' takes place in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

(present-day Mumbai) in the year 1971. The novel's protagonist is a hard-working bank clerk called Gustad Noble, a member of the

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

community and devoted family man struggling to keep his wife Dilnavaz, and three children out of poverty. His family begins to fall apart as his eldest son Sohrab refuses to attend the

Indian Institute of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Insti ...

to which he has gained admittance and his youngest daughter, Roshan, falls ill. Other conflicts involve Gustad's ongoing interactions with his eccentric neighbours and his relationship with close friend and co-worker, Dinshawji. Tehmul, a seemingly unimportant and mentally disabled character, is essential in Gustad's life, as he brings out his tender side and represents the innocence of life. A letter that Gustad receives one day from an old friend, Major Bilimoria, slowly draws him into a government deception involving threats, secrecy and large amounts of money. The novel not only follows Gustad's life, but also India's political turmoil under the leadership of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was al ...

Reception

When it was published in 1991, it won the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by th ...

, the

Commonwealth Writers Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

for Best Book, and the W.H. Smith/

Books in Canada First Novel Award The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident o ...

. It was

shortlist A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

ed for the prestigious

and for the

Trillium Award The Trillium Book Award (french: Prix littéraire Trillium or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which i ...

. It has been translated into

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Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, Danish and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, Korean and has been made into the 1998 film '' Such a Long Journey''.

Withdrawal from Mumbai University's syllabus

When

, grandson of Bal Thackeray, then a final-year Arts student at St. Xavier's College, complained to the vice chancellor that the book contains abusive language about his grandfather and the Maharashtrian community, ''Such a Long Journey'' was withdrawn from the syllabus of

Mumbai University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

. The book was prescribed for the second year Bachelor of Arts (English) in 2007–08 as an optional text, according to University sources. It was also confirmed that Dr. Rajan Welukar,

's Vice-Chancellor (V-C) used the emergency powers under Section 14 (7) of the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, to withdraw the book from the syllabus. Based on a complaint, the Board of Studies (English), which had recommended the book earlier, resolved that it must be withdrawn with effect from September 15. Following this incident the book entered public debate. The teachers' union wanted the Vice Chancellor to defend academic freedom, claiming that the book was selected for literary reasons. Their point of view was that the author, Rohinton Mistry, did not think poorly of Marathi-speakers, and that the passages were perspectives of a character in the book. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra

Ashok Chavan Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan (born 28 October 1958) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra. He is one of the most influential leaders of Indian National Congress in Maharashtra. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state from 8 D ...

(Member of

Congress Party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

) stated that the book was "highly abusive and objectionable". Former Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University and Member of the

Planning Commission of India The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India, which formulated India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions. In his first Independence Day speech in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his intention to diss ...

Bhalchandra Mungekar stated: "I'm fully convinced, even giving the benefit of the doubt to the book being a piece of fiction, that some sentences are certainly objectionable...there is a difference between dissenting with the political and social philosophy of an individual or organisation, and abusing the individual by name". Faculty have complained of pressure tactics being used to coerce their support of the vice chancellor's decision. The book is unlikely to be reintroduced in the short term on account of possibility of law and order problems. Mistry has also expressed disappointment in a statement regarding the withdrawal.

Characters

Noble family

*Gustad Noble ::Gustad is an ethnically Parsi, placid and very religious person in his 50s, and works at a bank. He recites kusti prayers every morning. He has three children, two sons and a daughter. Gustad is also a loving and indulging father, and is eager for his eldest son to become accomplished when he grows up. *Dilnavaz Noble *Sohrab Noble *Darius Noble *Roshan Noble

Gustad's close friends

*Major Jimmy "Billiboy" Billimoria *Dinshawji *Malcom Saldanha

Khodadad Building residents

*Miss Kutpitia *Tehmul "Lungraa" *Mr. Rabadi (the "Dogwalla idiot") *Inspector Bamji *Mrs. Pastakia *Mr. Pastakia (depressed father-in-law of Mrs. Pastakia)

Other characters

*Ghulam Mohammed (Major Billimoria's accomplice) *Dr. Paymaster *Sidewalk Artist (paints the black wall) *Laurie Coutino (secretary of Parsi Bank, teased by Dinshawji as "Lorrie",

slang for

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...

) *Mr. Madon (Manager of Parsi Bank) *Peerbhoy Paanwalla *Alamai "Domestic Vulture" (Dinshawji's wife, and later widow) *Nusli (Dinshawji's nephew and adopted son) – Indira Gandhi (prime minister)

Release details

*''Such a Long Journey'', Toronto: McClelland and Stewart (1991) *''Such a Long Journey'', London: Faber (1991) *''Such a Long Journey'', New York: Knopf (1991) *''Such a Long Journey'', London: Faber (1992) *''Such a Long Journey'', New York: Vintage (1992) *''Such a Long Journey'', Toronto: McClelland and Stewart (1997) *''Such a Long Journey'', Toronto: McClelland and Stewart (1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Such A Long Journey (Novel) Such a Long Journey New Canadian Library 1991 Canadian novels Novels set in Mumbai Fiction set in 1971 Canadian novels adapted into films Governor General's Award-winning fiction books 1991 debut novels