–excerpts– Celebrity snoop Shinan Govani takes readers on a fun romp through the glitzy world of stars and socialites as seen through the eyes of his alter ego Ravi. Shinan Govani’s satire of the gossip columnists and the antics of celebrities is right on the mark. How could it not be, when Govani is such a master of the tattler craft.
From Uganda, the family fled first to Belgium, living for about a year as refugees, dependent on food rations, and finally, through family connections already in Canada, ended up in Toronto in an apartment building across from the Fairview Mall. His father found work as a shipper-receiver in a factory, and his sister was born two years later. (Her name, Rishma, means “silky” or “fluffy” in Persian, he tells me. “It’s a common name in Bollywood movies. My name is made up. I’ve never met another Shinan. I’m invented…. The family is devoutly Ismaili Muslim (a subset of Shiite Muslims who consider the Aga Khan their spiritual leader).
More at the source and references:
http://www.torontolife.com/features/fabulously-strange-life-shinan-govani/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/
http://modern-canadian-fiction.suite101.com/
Ismailimail 
Shinan
Congrtulations! Mubarakis and a Great achievement.
Our Mubarakis to your sister, your loving Mom Laila and your dad.
We are proud of you and your loving family.
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I don’t think Shinan is a made-up, invented name. The author is probably named after Rashid al-Din Sinan.
According to the Institute of Ismaili Studies website:
Sinan, Rashid al-Din (d. 1193): Medieval Nizari Ismaili missionary in Syria. He reorganized the Nizari community in Syria and played a prominent role in the regional politics of his time, entering into shifting alliances with Salah al-Din (Saladin), the Crusaders, and others to safeguard the independence of his community. Sinan was the original ‘Old Man of the Mountain’ of the Crusaders, who made the Nizari Ismailis famous in medieval Europe as the Assassins together with a number of fictional tales regarding their secret practices. An outstanding organiser and statesman, Sinan led the Syrian Nizaris for some three decades, to the peak of their power, until his death.
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