Cherish the Natural Feeling: Stories and Essays by Hoshang Gustad Dastoor. Published in 2018 by The Write Place, a publishing initiative by Crossword Bookstores Limited, Umang Tower, 2nd Floor, Mindspace, off Link Road, Malad (West), Bombay 400064; website: www.TheWritePlace.in. Pp: xvi + 128. Price: Rs 249.
Cherish the Natural Feeling is a delightful collection of writings by Hoshang Dastoor (pictured). These "varied experiences and perceptions of a lifetime,” he confesses in the Preface, were originally written for friends and relatives in India and abroad which he 
decided to publish hoping that it "would entertain as well as provoke reflection.”
Dastoor is a sensitive and compassionate writer and he possesses the skill to breathe life into most of the characters he portrays. His depiction of Nozzle in "Come on Engine” is gentle and humorous. He manages to bring out a synthesis between Nozzle’s love for gambling and living on the dangerous edge of things and an innocent hope for a future when all will be hunky-dory. Similar is the case with the ‘outsider,’ Poodipeddi Surya Satya Rama Chandra Vara Prasadam in "The Latch;” even when Dastoor pokes fun at his characters it is always good-natured and in a spirit of bonhomie. Poodipeddi is very proud of his magnificent latch in which the key turns seven times to lock his flat in an extremely secure manner. However, his pride is pricked with a comment that the security of the lock was superfluous when the door itself was very flimsy. Dastoor’s portrayal of his Maths Master in "Charlie” is one of great affection. In a few of the essays, particularly in the section "Work,” the characters fail to come alive and though Dastoor feels very strongly, he is unable to arouse an interest in his characters and convey the same to the readers.
The most moving pieces are the two included in the section "Full Circle.” "Black Mesa” begins with a meditation on a novel Dastoor had read as a child, The Colorado Kid, where an area, Black Mesa, is "a grim, forbidding mountain plateau” where fierce gun battles take place. The story shifts to his daughter, Zia, who studied Comparative Literature at Colorado College and who met with an accidental death in Santa Fe, New Mexico. When Dastoor visits Colorado, he also happens to see Black Mesa which had haunted him in his youth. This piece is extremely well written. What could have become maudlin and sentimental, is handled with great sensitivity. Similar is the case with his portrayal of his grandmother in "Around a Corner of Time” and the conundrum of the Frere Fletcher Girls’ School (since renamed J. B. Petit High School).
Dastoor uses a clever play on words in his essay entitled "Anna.” The woman he is apparently describing is the long forgotten currency coin. In "The Conference,” Dastoor in tongue-in-cheek fashion describes a conference in the 24th century where thanks to the "Allwhen-SAP, Version 68.42.7” physical stock verification would be done without human beings or supervisors.
In the section, "The Divine,” the author advises us to avoid chasing falsehoods and temporal power and to "Cherish the Natural Feeling” by following the example of the Mule in Asimov’s Foundation and Empire. The help desk in "Take a Help Desk” is there to assist us in times of need and Dastoor uses it as a symbol of God and His unfailing divine assistance.
Dastoor writes in a clear and cogent manner even when he deals with esoteric subjects. His sense of humor permeates most of the writing. Considering the wide variety of subjects Dastoor writes about, it is certain that readers will find something in this collection that they will cherish. FIRDAUS GANDAVIA
Gandavia holds a doctorate in English literature and is a retired chartered accountant. He is a compulsive reader of fiction.