India, Sept. 26 -- Alaka Rajan Skinner's Persian Nights: An Indian Child in Iran, a graphic novel, is about the author's experience of living in that country during the 1970s, when her father got a teaching job at Tehran University. "This incredible country with its rich culture and heritage was home to us for 10 years and an extremely important part of my growing up years," Rajan Skinner writes in her author's note. As a child, she noticed that many of the herbs and spices like saffron, dill, turmeric, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger and cardamom used in her mother's Indian cooking were also part of Iranian cooking. She was surprised to learn that jalebis and gulab jamuns, which are assumed to be "traditional Indian desserts", are likely to have originated in Iran. Woven seamlessly into the novel illustrated by Shweta Allam, Vishnu Jadhav and Chandrashekhar Aher, these details make the reader think about histories of culinary exchange simmering inside our kitchens. India absorbed several influences from the Persianate world through trade, conquest, the Mughal court, and migration. Indeed, the author's father was one of the many Indian teachers, doctors, and engineers who went to Iran after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's official visit to the country in 1974. During that visit, undertaken during a severe global oil crisis, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, agreed to contribute to India's energy security in exchange for the supply of skilled professionals. The family's apartment in Tehran was small but had a gorgeous view of snow-capped mountains in the distance. The author contrasts this picturesque setting with the sibling squabbles that took place indoors. At school, the curriculum included Farsi, English, Hindi and Punjabi, and the canteen served chana bhatura and samosas. The reader also learns about the neighbours: an Iranian man married to an Indian woman. Their love of music is evident from an illustration of the couple dancing away to Boney M's Daddy Cool. At this point, a wave of Westernisation was sweeping through the country and American hits were played on the radio, in clubs, and at house parties. Things changed rapidly with the Islamic Revolution (1978-1979). Religious leaders opposed the rapid modernisation, especially with respect to women's rights and eventually, the Shah fled Iran and Ayatollah Khomeini declared the nation an Islamic republic. Rajan Skinner's narrative documents the same history through personal anecdotes, often laced with humour. Before the Islamic Revolution, Iranians used to talk about the striking resemblance between her father and the Shah of Iran. The joke died a natural death afterwards. In another incident, that probably elicited nervous laughter at the time but is hilarious in the book, the family car with the author's father at the wheel is stopped by a group of armed Islamic guards. One of them, sporting a large beard and carrying a machine gun, tapped on the window. When it was rolled down, the guard said, "Salaam Ustaad! Do you remember me? I was your student at the University six years ago. You gave me a failing grade in English." The visual and psychological landscape of the era is vividly presented through illustrations of protestors chanting "Death to America. Death to the Shah" and revolutionaries stopping by the author's home to warn the family of anticipated gunfire. Amidst this gloom, an unexpectedly light exchange occurs when chador-clad, weapon-wielding women ask the author's father how many wives he has. That he has only one surprises them and he is told that he is still young and must get another one. He agrees to consider the suggestion. The book, which pairs nostalgia with realism, never descends into sentimentalism. The Iran-Iraq war eventually compelled the family to return to India. The Persian carpet they had to leave behind becomes a painful symbol of separation. Persian Nights is an imaginative depiction of the humanitarian impact of conflict....