I might just reword that title as ‘How could I not compile a festschrift for Keki Daruwala?’ He was the kind of human being who evoked one’s loyalty and affection, because he extended it to his friends irrespective of age or writerly hierarchy. I quote from my foreword in a House of Words published by the Sahitya Akademi in 2024:

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For a man so dismissive of praise, and who shies away from adulation, this anthology is an anomalous gesture. In character, Keki first spikily dismissed the idea of a festschrift. I blithely disregarded his protests in the hope that the work would reveal his estimate in the hearts of so many where bona fide canons and testimonials are engraved—for me, this was an inevitable project—a mark of regard, friendship, and conviction of purpose.

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A House of Words published by Sahitya Akademi in 2024 is markedly a festschrift celebrating a man as well as his writings. The contributors—each of them a significant writer in India’s literary landscape offers a nugget to understand a writer and his writerly life. What became evident was a similarity of perceptions—the span of his career is unfolded in memory, painting a consistent picture of Daruwalla’s largesse in heart that lit up lives. The book discloses Keki N. Daruwalla as friend, critic, editor, reviewer, poet, mentor, father-figure, short story writer, political critic, novelist—and human being.  Consistently, the book is fired by the recollection of a generous heart that navigated numerous friendships, nurtured upcoming writers, an incisive wit, inspiring integrity, courage of convictions, and irony that awakens us to grim realities. The respect for a prodigious talent that tackled the lyrical as well as political commentary is palpable. Indeed, Keki Daruwalla built a house of words not just with his works, but left an indelible structure of writerly bond in the hearts of a community of writers.