Fragments Against My Ruin: A Life

The rebellious life of a novelist, screenwriter and revolutionary activist

Born in Poona, India, Farrukh Dhondy came to England in 1964 and immersed himself in radical politics and the counterculture. He kicked off a career in journalism interviewing Pink Floyd and Allen Ginsberg and covering the first meeting between the Beatles and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Dhondy was soon drawn into political activism. He joined the Indian Workers Association and the British Black Panther Movement. Within the radical activist collective Race Today, he worked alongside Darcus Howe and C. L. R. James. An award-winning writer, he co-wrote the ground-breaking sit-com Tandoori Nights. In 1984 he became Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor for multicultural programming and was a driving force behind Desmond’s, Salaam Bombay!, and the trailblazing Bandung File.

In Fragments against My Ruin, Dhondy explores a life to salvage precious moments against the inevitable decay of age. The result is a fascinating social and historical document of the late twentieth century, addressing politics, culture, friendship, and the determination to break down boundaries. It is an autobiography packed with compelling anecdotes, such as an insightful take on Jeffrey Archer’s conviction, as well as portraits of Richard Attenborough, Arundhati Roy, V. S. Naipaul, Charles Sobhraj, and many others.

Farrukh Dhondy is an award winning author, screenwriter and activist. Born in Poona, India in 1944 in a Parsi family. He was awarded a scholarship to read English at Cambridge University. While a schoolteacher in the Midlands and London, He was also involved with political activism. In 1984, he worked as Commissioning Editor, Multicultural Programming, for Channel 4 TV, UK. As an author he has won the Whitbread prize for his first novel, Bombay Ducks and he regularly writes for broadcast and newspapers.