Mistry is an alumnus of St. Xaviers, Mumbai

The 1990 Booker Prize-shortlisted novel is about the fortunes of Gustad Noble, his family and their neighbours, in the backdrop of the 1971 war and has some brief references to the Sena. Mistry is an alumnus of St. Xaviers, Mumbai

Vispi Balaporia, former chairperson of the BOS and former English Literature professor:
“The book, which is so obviously based on the Parsi community, is a superb portrayal of the community with all its eccentricities. I don't see the Parsis going up in arms,” she pointed out. “The book is based on an actual event — the Nagarwala case — where he impersonated Indira Gandhi to withdraw sums of money from a bank. This is a work of fiction and you have to be true to the characters you portray. It reflects what the characters think and not what the author thinks. Why can't the protesters understand the difference,” she asked.

President of the BVS Abhijit Panse said that the book: the book is offensive to the people in Maharashtra and has abusive references to dabbawalahs, the mentality of the ‘Marathi manoos' and Pandit Nehru