Retracing the life of a Spy

Spy Princess will now be made into a film. Puja Goyal caught up with
author Shrabani Basu to find out how spy Noor Inayat Khan's life has been immortalised in a book.

(c) 2007 Puja Goyal

Sharbani Basu's, Spy Princess is based on recently declassified documents, interviews with Noor's Family and accounts from her colleagues and their relatives. It retraces the amazing life of the world's first woman radio operator, Noor, from her birth in Moscow to her life as a secret agent in France. The book is now being made into a film by director Shyam Benegal and is Number Two on the bestseller charts in India. Author Shrabani Basu is the London correspondent of the Calcutta-based Ananda Bazar Group and writes for The Telegraph and ABP. She was in Bangalore recently for a presentation on Spy Princess.


Your books The Spy Princess and Curry in the Crown have two very different subjects.
I have read extensively on the Indo- British relations since the 1600's. I am an Indian and stay in Britain, this is evident in my research and subjects that I choose. If you look closely, the subjects are different but they find their roots in the Indo- British relations.

Idea behind The Spy Princess
As a journalist, you research many stories; I came across articles about India's contribution to the World War. One snippet was that of Noor Inayat Khan.

There are already two books on Noor…
Yes there are, but they are works of fiction and the one biography by Jean is out of print as it was written immediately after the war was over. Jean's biography lacked information. Secret materials now declassified, have given new dimensions to Noor's story. Besides, there is no real biography of Noor available.

You have stuck to a narrative form of writing…
I think it is because I am a journalist and because I wanted to tell Noor's story as it was instead of fantasizing about it.

Biographies are tricky, how does a writer remain true to the subject when everyone is contributing their own version.
Sometimes you never know everything that happened. There are huge gaps between what could have happened, what did happen and the information available. Documents get lost, people grow old, forget or expire and sometimes we just don't know; lots of mysteries surround real life stories.

I have been true to the data available about Noor; at the same time I have let the gaps remain in the book. I do not want to speculate about what could have happened. Let mysteries remain mysteries… some things are better left that way.

One such mystery element…
It is the mystery surrounding Noor's Fiancé. She had informed her family and friends that she was engaged, while undercover in France. No one knows who he was; she gave no information on his identity and she did not live to tell.

Difficulties in writing The Spy Princess
No difficulties… The data is not available online so I had to travel and research extensively in order to piece everything together. Some were helpful while the others dismissive. Noor's family and Jean were extremely cooperative. Her brother Hidayat did not live to see the published book.

The declassification of the World War files helped gain perspective into the circumstances under which spies operated. It gave me more information about Noor and the events that perchance.

On The Spy Princess
Although Noor is a descendant of Tipu Sultan, she was spiritually inclined. She was courageous, stubborn, conscientious, and a woman of principles who never succumbed to pressures of interrogation and could never lie… something she drew from her father. She was like a mother to her three siblings and brought them up. Noor was fun too; she loved dancing her friends say. The Spy Princess is a story of a brave woman who lived and died during World War 2.