Kahaniyon ki Viraasat is a book that eludes classification. It presents a unique blend of stories – at once palatable, relatable, and with morals that have remained unchanged by time. These are parables rooted equally in everyday life and the near-fantastical: here we find stories of princes and regents, as much as of the common people with their myriad professions – there are stories of fakirs and fools, of sons and saints, and ministers and men.

A reader may expect two common themes across the stories. Firstly, there is the constant contrast of wisdom with folly, but not necessarily in a didactic, moralistic manner. The subtitle of the book reads “A collection of advice through stories”, and just as advice is sometimes best delivered subtly instead of directly, so are morals subtly imbibed into the stories. Secondly, a sense of humour is all pervasive. Much of the humour comes from the use of language, and translations can often fall short on this point. The Hindi translation comes close to recreating the experience of reading it in the original Gujarati: Sir Pattani’s liberal use of idioms and metaphors that are unique to Indian languages makes for a highly readable translation from Gujarati to Hindi - a translation that can retain the flavour of style of writing as well as its content. 

The rootedness of the stories in history does not take away from the universality of the ideas within them. In fact, it presents an interesting slice of history into princely states, kingdoms and rulers across the Indian Subcontinent. But perhaps most importantly, it speaks volumes of Sir Pattani and his vast bank of knowledge. As a student of history it is not only the events of mentioned within the stories – such as the coming-of-age parable of the prince of Jodhpur – but also how Sir Pattani himself uses these real-life events, places, and people; it provides insight into his widely-read character, and his particular use of history and tradition to communicate advice to the masses. His remarkable range of knowledge is, in fact, much praised by Nanabhai Bhatt in his foreword, and rightly so. 

This collection of historic-parables will excite those who wish to know more about Sir Pattani, or those who merely wish to enjoy meaningful-yet-humorous tales. The casual reader and the academician will both find something of immense value here.