An exhibition offers a window into the life of Dr Jamshed Bhabha

Hindustan Times

10 hours ago

MUMBAI: Rare artefacts, statuettes, books, art, toys, and more from Dr Jamshed Jehangir Bhabha's personal collection will be on exhibit at National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), from tomorrow to mark the 111th birth anniversary of its founder. Titled 'A life in memory', it will display over 55 exhibits chronicling the life and times of the Bhabha family, the NCPA, and the contribution of the Zoroastrian community to Mumbai's public life. (Narendra Dangiya/ NCPA)
'We wish to memorialise Dr Bhabha's role as NCPA's founder and its guardian angel, but we also want Mumbaikars to re-visit his legacy, and share his vision. To that end, the exhibition is also dedicated to Mumbai and its connoisseurs,' said Nandita Anjaria, senior adviser, NCPA.
Some of the timeless pieces which will be on display include a pair of replicas of late 18th century wood-carved mythical creatures that adorn temples and caves (mostly in south India) as imaginary sentinels. Others include a Tara Devi sculpture frozen in bronze and resplendent in a serene 'mudra' seated in a lotus; the exquisitely carved Lord Shiva statuette perched on a 'damroo' (drum), and a metal-and-glass structure shaped after a clock tower.
While Mumbai was being battered by rain through the last weekend, a band of young artisans were busy at the spacious 1,500 sq ft Dilip Piramal Art Gallery, the venue of the exhibition, waxing artefacts and touching up the statuettes, even as a senior technician breathed life into the glass tower clock, a nineteenth century masterpiece.
'This one will need six 'hatta-katta' (hefty) workers to be placed on the table,' remarked an artisan, pointing to a pot-bellied Lord Ganesha, carved in a single rock.
Dr Bhabha, who died in 2007, bequeathed his treasure chest to the NCPA. 'Over the years the NCPA had to sell off some of his precious paintings to keep the Centre running. Insightful of the resource crunch which cultural institutions face, he had allowed the sales in his will,' said Anjaria. He also bequeathed 'Meherangir', his charming Malabar Hill bungalow, to the NCPA and appointed the Centre to be its sole custodian. Later, the NCPA auctioned it off to raise funds.
Playwright Vrindavan Dandawate, who joined the NCPA in the 1980s as assistant director (programmes), described Dr Bhabha as a 'gentle soul with an iron will'. 'When a half-built Jamshed Bhabha Theatre was gutted in December 1997, Dr Bhabha rushed to the site. He summoned his colleagues the next day and urged them not to lose hope. 'We will re-build the theatre,' he had said. Within a year a 1,109-seated proscenium style auditorium rose from ashes and debris,' Dandawate said.
Born in an illustrious family, Dr Bhabha inherited his passion for arts and western classical music from his parents, and shared it with his elder brother, scientist Dr Homi Bhabha. A Cambridge graduate with a tripos, he gave up his plans to take the Bar Finals at Lincoln's Inn and returned to India amidst World War II. He joined Tata Steel, which marked his long and fruitful association with J R D Tata.
In fact, JRD went out of the way to encourage Dr Bhabha's efforts to promote and preserve music and the arts. The NCPA was set up at Warden Road in 1969, and shifted to its present location in Nariman Point in 1980 on a seven-acre plot on reclaimed land, boasting five full-fledged theatres.
As chairman of the Tata Group, JRD, while convincing fellow trustees on the Group's philanthropic boards on the significance of Dr Bhabha's venture, had said, 'One day, perhaps, the NCPA's work may be more important for the country than the work of the steel company.' He succinctly summed up Dr Bhabha's mission.
Alongside the exhibition, the annual Jamshed Bhabha Memorial Lecture will also be held on August 21 at the Tata Theatre. Noted legal luminary Darius Khambata, the former additional solicitor general of India, will speak on 'War and Peace: Unlearned lessons from the 20th century'.
('A life in memory' will be exhibited at the Dilip Piramal Art Gallery, NCPA, from August 21 till September 14, between 12 noon and 7 pm)