"The book by Sanjay Parikh is a fascinating narration of the tale of SS Blue Lady and her exciting travels with well-known personalities. At the same time, it provides a chilling insight into the illegal trade of hazardous waste and the many actors involved—a must-read to better understand the dark side of shipping."—Ingvild JenssenFounder and Director,NGO Shipbreaking Platform, Brussels★★★It is fascinating to see someone creating a story from a not-so- interesting hazardous waste ban case and making a ship-Blue Lady, standing at Alang counting her last days, to speak about her romance, intrigue, betrayal and desertion, laced with some yarns and enticing embellishments. I think for my colleagues in the legal fraternity, nothing more exciting to read-while waiting interminably for their cases to be taken up!—Norma AlvaresEnvironmentalist and Senior Advocate★★★Everything that exists on this earth, from the smallest to the biggest, has a story to tell. Footprints of its life remain forever etched in the memories of the time. It is for the storyteller to weave the shades and shines, joys and sorrows, despair and happiness, love and dejection in a manner that brings the narrative to life.The Blue Lady is, therefore, the tale of a majestic passenger liner, its glory and grandeur and the trials and tribulations she faced while laying herself bare before the vast ocean. While history contains the names of great and royal passengers she carried, her heart withheld many secrets, intrigues, deceits and conspiracies. She watched time moving. Once, the Mona Lisa one of the world's greatest works of art chose to travel with her from France to New York. So did Salvador Dali, the great surrealist painter, and many other famous writers and celebrities
Sanjay Parikh is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India with a distinguished legal career spanning over four decades. He has been involved with important cases concerning environment, human rights and Constitution. Some of the notable cases include the mandatory disclosure of assets and criminal records by electoral candidates, the voters' right to choose 'None of The Above' (NOTA), rights of the Bhopal gas victims, deaths due to starvation in Odisha's KBKdistricts, rights of people displaced by large dam projects such as Tehri, Sardar Sarovar, and Omkareshwar, as well as the Dongria Kondh tribe of Niyamgiri (Kalahandi) in their fight for forest rights, among others. It was in the case of dumping of hazardous waste, that the issue of ship breaking came up, including that of the ship-Blue Lady.Mr. Parikh has contributed extensively to environmental and human rights discourse through publications in prestigious journals. He had been a joint editor of Karmadhara (Hindi) and Call Beyond (English). He is the author of Courts & Hunger and has edited two books: Extraordinary Justice and Taking Human Rights Forward. His literary passion extends to Hindi poetry books such as Dhoop me chipe shabd, Tum ho to hoon and Kuch na kaho es Sanjh published by Vani Prakashan, and his recent poetry book Hatheli dhoop published by Bharatiya Jnanpith. Beyond his legal and literary pursuits, Mr. Parikh finds creative expression in painting, wood crafting and gardening, reflecting his deep connection with nature and the environment.
