It would not be wrong to say that Mumbai’s art community gave a hero’s welcome to Bengaluru’s visionary young art patron Abhishek Poddar and his ambitious soon-to-be-opened Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), when he hosted a discussion and dinner at the Trident last week. To be located in the heart of Bengaluru and set to open towards the end of 2020, the world-class, 44,000 square feet space will feature five galleries, an auditorium, a classroom, a research library and climate-controlled storage amongst other things. Those present included Citi bank’s Pramit Jhaveri with wife Mukeeta (who moderated a discussion on how private collections can become more public and who is said to have contributed greatly to building the bank’s collection), Mphasis founder Jerry with wife Neelambari Rao (who have recently donated their substantial art collection to MAP), artist couples Atul and Anju Dodiya, and Jitish and Reena Kallat, media maven Alex Kuruvilla with wife Namita, aesthete Devaunshi Mehta and author Sudha Shah. One of the highlights of the evening was Jerry Rao’s speech, in which he emphasised how it was futile to grumble and expect the government to step in and promote the arts. The other, of course, was Poddar’s own delivery, in which the man, who in one lifetime has built up one of the world’s most dazzling collections (70,000 pieces of which have been donated to MAP) and is on the verge of creating its most ambitious and exciting art spaces, admitted to having started out the journey as an errant Doon school boy with no knowledge of the subject and who only saw it as a means to escape class!

Storm In A Tea Cup

MoonMoon Sen ( File Photo )

The subject of tea is a fascinating one. Wars have been fought for it, courtships have been conducted over it and a worldwide industry has been built around it. But recently, in India, it is the politics of tea that is taking centre stage. From a Prime Minister who cannot stop reminding us that he began his life as a humble tea seller to TMC leader Moon Moon Sen, who claimed recently that she was unaware of the violence in her constituency as she had not been woken up with her bed tea on time, the humble cup that cheers sure is making its presence felt. Moon Moon, along with her charming husband Habi, from an erstwhile North eastern royal family and a nephew of the late Rajmata of Jaipur, had been a friend during our Kolkata days in the late 1980s. A winsome hostess, the mother of two pretty school-going daughters and an artful raconteur, she’d been an enigma even then, coquettish at one time, sultry and aloof another. It was at her well-appointed, spacious home where we would run in to some of the city’s most colourful personalities and visitors (on one memorable occasion the actor Hugh Grant!) What on earth made Sen deliver those unforgettable lines to a live camera about being unaware of the violence in her constituency because of a lapse by her staff concerning her bed tea? And how will such a display of unparalleled elitism in the political arena sit with the grassroots underdog image of TMC leader Mamata Banerjee? There is every chance that Modi, who appears to be focusing some of his attention to baiting Banerjee currently, will seize this opportunity to contrast his much-vaunted humble tea seller’s background with the image of the high-handed memsahib and her bed tea. You wouldn’t need to read the tea leaves to know how that one will play out.

True Lies
Our Dilli political jasoos called to give us some taaza khabar from the corridors of power. Apparently, the PM’s recent interview with actor Akshay Kumar had resulted in a piquant situation: his young challenger from the Opposition, egged on by his handlers, had been inspired to give a similar non-political interview himself to demonstrate what a man of the people he was. But, according to her, the problem was that there were no takers. “There was a time when channels would queue up to get a sound bite from him,” she rued, adding, “But now, he’s finding it hard to interest any channel to give him air time.” Finding it hard, or not being allowed to, was what we wanted to ask, but by then she’d hung up.

Backstage At The Royal Opera House

(From left) Manjari Chaturvedi, Shubha Mudgal and Asad Lalljee.

What is it like being backstage at a day-long symposium at the spectacularly-restored Royal Opera House to celebrate the contributions of the courtesan to India’s performing arts? Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to find out, when we participated in Delhi-based kathak dancer and founder of the Sufi Kathak Foundation, Manjari Chaturvedi’s paean to the subcontinent’s courtesan of yore. It featured discussions, films and speakers like doyenne of Hindustani classical music Shubha Mudgal, historian and author Dr Veena Talwar Oldenburg and Dr Lata Singh, an associate professor in the Centre for Women’s Studies, JNU, amongst others, besides being capped by a performance by Chaturvedi herself, at the end. To begin with, the experience of spending time in the hallowed and graceful building, a gift to the city from the erstwhile Royal family of Gondal, transports one to another era. Then the palpable sense of scholarship amidst the participants and the audience, men and women who’ve come from near and far, driven by their common love for the subject under discussion is a welcome respite from the everyday quotidian rush of city living. And lastly, there’s the food. Food for thought: in this case, how the tawiafs and courtesans were women of real glamour and financial independence who had commanded respect and influence in their time; how many of them had contributed to the freedom struggle; how patriarchy and British puritanism, amongst other things had marginalised them. Yes, there was much food for thought that afternoon.
And, food for the stomach. Cultural provocateur Asad Lalljee, CEO, Avid Learning and curator at the Royal Opera House, and his team had ensured that they had left no stone unturned to make the symposium a success in every way. But, fate had intervened and the lunch boxes containing quiche and cakes from Theobrama had not shown up, leading to a last-minute scramble for boxes from Tiwari’s next door. The delicious dahi kachoris and cheese dhoklas had many participants saying they much preferred the stand in!

First Published: May 01, 2019 00:46 IST