How the Parsis Shaped Theatre in Colonial Bombay

Flops, frauds or community disapproval did not prove obstacles to the growth of the theatre enterprise. Elphinstone Circle in Bombay in the 1870s. Photo: Lee-Warner Collection/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When one thinks of Horniman Circle – the ring of elegant old buildings in south Mumbai – today, several associations spring to mind: the glossy storefronts of Starbucks and Hermes – the temples of neoliberal globalism; men snoozing on the garden’s shaded benches – a respite from...
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Remembering Soli Batlivala

It was a scene out of a film. The young patriot supporting the Quit India struggle heard the police knock on the door of his Parel home. Though no stranger to jail, alerted by his mother Bachoobai, he bolted from a back door and jumped on the tiled roof. Unable to share his son and wife’s sympathies, red faced before the officers was Dr Shiavax Batlivala, a physician and Mayor of Bombay under the British. Article by Meher Marfatia | Mid-Day Soli Shiavax Batlivala, diehard Congressman turned card...
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Sophocles and sizzlers at Scandal Point

Colonial class to Boutique Boulevard, the seaside strip of Breach Candy still spells midtown magic Speak of symmetry and serendipity. After 26 years of growing up on Hill Road, Bandra, I’ve spent a ditto span of the next 26 discovering the delights of Warden Road, Breach Candy. Article By Meher Marfatia | Christened with geographic logic, “Breach” was suggested by a gap in the rocks the land mass formed, linking its Arabian Sea flank to the Mahalaxmi and Byculla flats. “Candy” was the Anglic...
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A legacy lost and found

An ongoing exhibition in the Capital showcases works by and on Parsis and their rich contribution to films, poetry, arts, and children’s literature Article by Rana Siddiqui Zaman | The Tribune They have a sizeable presence in India. Nearly 75,000 out of a total population of 1.35 lakh globally. Yet, art lovers have barely seen an extensive exhibition of the creative fraternity of this 3,500-year-old Parsi community in India under one roof. Dr Patel’s Clinic — Lamington Road by Atul Dodiya. O...
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Pheroza Godrej: Mumbai’s art queen

One of Mumbai’s leading art historians, Pheroza J Godrej, updates Ornella D’Souza about her commitments as editor, collector, curator and member on various cultural boards Article by by Ornella D’Souza, dnaindia.com Your stint as chairperson of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai. ended in October 2015. Did you manage to get enough done? I’m glad my advisory committee and I put a list of exhibitions in the pipeline, so the new advisory committee actually has it easy. But the...
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