There are better ways to honour and celebrate our city’s icons and visionaries. Sir Pheroze and Lady Flora discuss what needs to be done to showcase their legacies for posterity
Gallery on India's women freedom fighters at Alipore Jail Museum. Pic/Fiona Fernandez
Hurry now, will you!” commanded Lady Flora, egging her friend, Sir PM to speed up walking, lest their friend, Dr Viegas give up waiting and leave Kyani & Co, their preferred adda whenever the duo had to catch up with the good doctor near his home in Dhobi Talao. As usual, it had to do with an extra-long siesta on Sunday that Sir PM didn’t set alarms for. It seemed like an important conversation, when Viegas dialled his friends. He had just returned from a research visit to the City of Joy, aka Calcutta, or Kolkata, like it’s referred to these days.
“There you are…Pheroze, Flora. How lovely it is to see you. I have so many stories to share from my trip. It was so very educational and informative. Yes, the research part was intense, but in my free time, I’d stroll around their landmarks and public attractions; it offered much insight. Particularly impressive was their focus on history, and how they celebrate their homegrown heroes. Mind you, not just Netaji Subhas Bose or Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, but even the lesser-known leaders, cultural and literary icons who made a difference to the city and Bengal,” Dr Viegas shared, sipping on his Irani tea. “This chai is better; I couldn’t warm up to their over-brewed version,” he smiled.
Lady Flora’s mind was flooded with questions, “Tell me, doctor…what do you mean when you say ‘celebrate’?” Dr Viegas answered, “For starters, there are historical reminders everywhere. All their major museums—Indian Museum, Alipore Jail Museum as well as the Victoria Memorial have sufficient space dedicated to these leaders from Bengal. It is remarkable how the wise folks who planned these museum displays ensured that these personalities got their due, and aren’t forgotten by the coming generations. In fact, at the Alipore Jail Museum, I learnt a lot about our women freedom fighters, thanks to a fabulous display; they were not just from Bengal but all of India. At the Victoria Memorial Museum, there were priceless sections on Netaji’s Indian National Army and its exploits, and segments on India’s freedom movement that had a Bengal angle. And my word! At the Indian Museum, there were some incredible salutations to the region’s first chroniclers and researchers.”
Sir PM was equally curious. “Viegas, and what about the cultural bit?” Dr Viegas was on his second chicken puff. “Absolutely. Apart from our national leaders, I was also amazed at the reverence that cultural icons like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, and all those gifted Bengali cinema thespians get in terms of being saluted at every corner and bend. There was this one time when I had made a quick stop to a famous handloom store; the missus wouldn’t have welcomed me back home if I didn’t return with those gorgeous Bengal cottons [sarees]. I noticed that the store’s café—how they love to snack—had a stunning handmade film poster of that Ray classic, Devi with the beautiful Sharmila Tagore’s fixated gaze. It’s everywhere, actually…these odes to their cultural icons as well as freedom fighters.”
Both friends were intently taking notes as Dr Viegas spoke. “I wish our city too had these diverse reminders everywhere. It’s far and few. I mean, where does one go to learn more about great Lokmanya Tilak or Dr Annie Besant’s life and contribution to this great urban centre of ours? Or for that matter, pioneers like Dadabhai Naoroji and Bhikaiji Cama? Even cultural icons like Vijay Tendulkar or V Shantaram… the list is endless. I wish there was at least one such space to celebrate them,” sighed Sir PM. In his mind, he didn’t dare raise his own relevance today, barring the statue outside the BMC building.
“This is quite insightful, doctor,” Lady Flora said, adding, “I have been hearing such instances about Calcutta’s tributes to their icons, but coming from you it’s more relevant. I would love to see the same intent from our civic gods and wealthy philanthropists to come together to create similar educational displays and galleries to celebrate our icons. Imagine how wonderful it would be if we had a space that paid tribute to JRD Tata, Madame Cama and Raj Kapoor, under the same roof? Pheroze, I think you should make a petition to your former bosses to create such a space,” she nudged her friend.
Sir PM looked interested, “Oh yes! I’ll get cracking. It’s absolutely necessary that we work towards making this happen, for coming generations. After all, they need to know about the great men and women who built this city. They aren’t mute statues to be ignored,” he smiled back at his two friends.
mid-day’s Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city’s sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her.
She tweets @bombayana. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
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