Thirty steps that convinced Aditya to take up the project
Aditya Somani
How long did it take Dr. Sharad Kale, President of the Asiatic Society, to convince Aditya Somani that he and the Rotary Club of Bombay should get involved in restoring the Asiatic Society? It took no time whatsoever, says a smiling Aditya. “While you’re walking up the steps, you get convinced! We pass this way every day, but we never end up coming here. When we do come here, we realise what a huge wealth this is, that it is our heritage. And if we don’t save it, it’s lost forever.”
For someone who is spearheading the Urban Heritage Renewal Committee of the Club, Aditya confesses that he first came here around the beginning of the year when Dr. Kale called him over and asked him to get involved. Dr. Kale himself assumed office as President of the Asiatic Society only a year and a half ago and is trying to bring about change. Now that he has taken on the responsibility, Aditya has already boned up in facts about the treasures lying in the Asiatic Society Library. What captured his imagination is the fact that one of the two remaining illuminated copies in the world of Dante’s “Divine Comedies” is lying in the Asiatic Society.
He adds: “If we can’t protect that (copy), we are losing our heritage. The people of Bombay need to come to the Asiatic because anything that gets used, gets saved. And that is important.” Acknowledging the role played by Aditya Somani, Chairman Rohan Dalal says there is no proposal at present to renovate the place. However, there are some finite things that are being taken up for the conservation of books and the restoration of certain aspects. The problems facing the Society are enormous but the Club is focusing only on some of them.
“There is a special collection with a lot of books and maps and manuscripts, spanning subjects and centuries. We are going to pick a few things that are sustainable yet finite. We have not thought about a time period or amount of money to be spent… It will evolve.” Although he cannot state how much time he will be able to devote to the project, Rohan adds that more important than physical presence is the will to see that the plans are executed in a time-bound manner.
At the end of the meeting, Sabira Merchant made an appeal for donations to the Asiatic Society’s “Adopt-ABook” scheme: for a mere Rs. 7,500, a donor can preserve one book, and have his or her name printed on its inside cover. So many hands shot up to volunteer to adopt two and three and five books that Eruch Irani couldn’t write them down fast enough. The Club has already raised Rs. 3,00,000 for this venture. This new partnership between the Rotary Club of Bombay and the Asiatic Society comes at a time when the arts themselves and the funding for them have come under attack all around the world, as highlighted in Dr. Sonya Mehta’s concluding speech. A few months ago, the ancient cities of Palmyra, Nimrod and Dura Europos were dismantled block by block by ISIS; and many ask why we should fund books or museums when a billion don’t have enough to eat. But, she argued, “We fund food and shelter to assure human survival; we support the arts because they inspire and motivate us.
We preserve our history because it anchors us. By funding the arts and the institutions that house them, we do not just preserve ink on paper, but the thoughts and methods that have brought us to modernity. We are not just preserving and refurbishing a building, we are creating a space for public, intellectual discourse for the next generation; we are strengthening our society’s value for questioning, for learning for the sake of learning.” Thirty steps that convinced Aditya to take up the project about the treasures lying in the Asiatic Society Library. What captured his imagination is the fact that one of the two remaining illuminated copies in the world of Dante’s “Divine Comedies” is lying in the Asiatic Society.
He adds: “If we can’t protect that (copy), we are losing our heritage. The people of Bombay need to come to the Asiatic because anything that gets used, gets saved. And that is important.” Acknowledging the role played by Aditya Somani, Chairman Rohan Dalal says there is no proposal at present to renovate the place. However, there are some finite things that are being taken up for the conservation of books and the restoration of certain aspects. The problems facing the Society are enormous but the Club is focusing only on some of them. “There is a special collection with a lot of books and maps and manuscripts, spanning subjects and centuries. We are going to pick a few things that are sustainable yet finite.
We have not thought about a time period or amount of money to be spent… It will evolve.” Although he cannot state how much time he will be able to devote to the project, Rohan adds that more important than physical presence is the will to see that the plans are executed in a time-bound manner. Geared up and ready to go. From left in this photo are Fali Mehta, PP Sandip Agarwalla, President Dr. Sonya Mehta, Sabira Merchant, Aditya Somani, PP Dr. Adi Dastur and Anuj Arenja A stitch in time saves nine. Aditya Somani, Chairman of the Urban Heritage Renewal Committee, stresses on the need to take action now, before it’s too late About thirty membership forms of the Asiatic Society were picked up by members before and after the meeting, showing their concern and interest in its working.