Courage and Sacrifice

IANS/Staff report, "Story of ‘Spy Princess’ hits bookstores in paperback version" - Thai Indian News - Bangkok, Thailand
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Story of ‘Spy Princess’ hits bookstores in paperback version

Indian history abounds in lores of brave women who sacrificed themselves to protect the honour of the country, clan, family and personal dignity. But rarely has a woman of Indian origin defended a foreign country and allowed herself to be tortured and shot to death by enemy forces - not out of compulsion, but out of choice.

London-based journalist Shrabani Basu’s non-fiction “TheSpy Princess” chronicles the extraordinary tale of India’s lone allied spy in Europe during the World War II, Noor Inayat Khan, a Sufi girl who was shot dead by the Gestapo at the infamous prison of Dachau.

“More than anyone else, I want children to read the book so that they can learn about the virtues of courage and sacrifice,” the author, who has worked for more than 20 years as the London correspondent of the Ananda Bazar Patrika group, told IANS.

“I have received a book from Year 6 primary school students in UK. It is a project titled ‘Liberty’ about the life ofNoor Inayat based on the book. It is full of imaginary conversations.

“I want it to happen in India too, but I have too little time to promote it personally. I want to see postage stamps of Noor Inayat and comic strip series on her life - like the Amar Chitra Katha,” Basu said.

She will be touring the East and the West coasts of US with her book, the result of three years of relentless research.

“Actually two years of compiling documents and a year of writing,” Basu says.

The inspiration was an innocuous newspaper clipping announcing 50 years of Noor Inayat's death. “There were five lines. ‘Noor Inayat, wireless operator, George Cross winner of Indian Muslim origin…’ It set me thinking and I started researching about her. It is difficult to believe that she went through all this,” recalls the author.

Eyewitness accounts, interrogation, records of war crime tribunals, Noor’s telegrams - and three letters that described what happened to Noor helped Basu thread the story.

Basu was helped by Noor’s family, which provided her with details of her childhood. “I interacted a lot with them,” she said.

“She was so beautiful that everyone, including her code maker, was in love with her,” says Basu.

Shyam Benegal is making “The Spy Princess” into a movie. However, Basu refuses to divulge details about the movie.

“The cast has not been decided and I will have to go through the final screenplay. I leave characters and the cast to your imagination,” laughs the author.