Thank you for the music magic ‘Ms Jini’

Jini Dinshaw at the Bombay Chamber Orchestra dress rehearsal of an August 2024 concert. Pic/Dylan D’Silva

I didn't have the good luck of learning music from her. But she told me a great ghost story. That encounter with Jini Dinshaw - founding force behind the Bombay Chamber Orchestra - had a decidedly unmusical context. I was mapping the history of Prescott Road, Fort, where she lived in Venkatesh Chambers. Born on August 9, 1930 when this was Sorab Mansion, with "a garden scented with roses, mogras and mangoes", Dinshaw revealed rents were low as the building was rumoured haunted. "My father brought priests to bless our home," she whispered. "Till then, windows flew open suddenly and the Kiefers living below reported a shadowy Parsi couple seen praying at the building well on the midnight hour."

(From left) Parvez Doctor of the BP Saloon Orchestra, Jini Dinshaw, conductor Joachim Buehler, cellist George Lester and Freddy Dinshaw (now BCO's oldest member), backstage at a 1970s performance at the Homi Bhabha Auditorium

She gave me interview time post-7 to 8.30 am rehearsal at the neighbouring Alexandra School - which she would reach a half-hour earlier to arrange chairs and music stands for students ranging from teenagers to octogenarians. All this when she was 88. Dinshaw's death a fortnight ago has sparked an outpouring of love, gratitude and memories of her arrival to illuminate Bombay's music scene.

Medicine's loss, as it happens, was music's gain. Despite her father nursing hopes of her becoming a doctor, Dinshaw plunged into music. At 17, she learnt from Gladys Noon, the violinist she met at Waterloo Station on a family holiday, whose home she dusted for pocket money. Completing the Royal Schools of Music ABRSM exams, she took lessons from such renowned tutors as the violinist Antonio Brosa.

Back in 1960, she started teaching and established the Bombay Chamber Orchestra (BCO) in 1962. The time was ripe for it; Mehli Mehta's Bombay Symphony Orchestra had wound up. Administrator and strings tutor of the BCO, she led it to grow into the country's oldest, still active Western classical orchestra. Welcoming fusion, it has performed concertos with Indian instruments and played with sarod artistes. Despite financial and other challenges threatening city orchestras, hers presents three to four annual concerts without government funding, relying on support from well-wishers.

With Alannah Fernandes at the BCO's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Sophia Bhabha Hall in 2022. Pic/Jimmy Shroff

To further foster local talent, Dinshaw invited international guest conductors, soloists, teachers and collaborators, including the British Council, Alliance Francaise and Goethe Institute. In 1985, the BCO accompanied India's first live ballet - Giselle by the Royal Ballet Company. The next year saw her awarded an MBE for her role in promoting cultural ties between Great Britain and India.

"Her mission wasn't merely to provide city music lovers performances but, more importantly, give youngsters an opportunity to enrich their lives through music," says Bomi Billimoria, honorary treasurer and former BCO timpanist. "To this end, she learnt the Carl Orff method of music education in Europe. Returning, she conducted classes for children to formally study instruments of their choice. Indefatigable, her dogged perseverance enabled her to overcome constraints which would inhibit a weaker soul."

Conductor and clarinet player Alaric Diniz says, "Jini made music accessible to all, without exception. She passed down to students the firm belief that music is a social activity, not practised in isolation. When I was in her Orff class, she required a clarinet player in the orchestra, so she imported an instrument and simply said I had to take it up. My father brought my three siblings to observe the classes I attended. She let them run around, participate in exercises like moving to a rhythm or clapping with a beat. That made learning very natural. They all joined Jini's Saturday morning classes. One brother plays the violin, another the bassoon, and my sister the flute."

Teaching young Kiyaan Engineer

Though Diniz played the clarinet, Dinshaw urged him to try the cello when the BCO needed cellists. "Her training efforts were towards getting students to learn an instrument and join the orchestra," he says. "Jini cajoled you into taking up an instrument and provided the ecosystem: instruments, teachers, opportunity to play to make this a part of one's life. She encouraged me to take rehearsals. Now I train and conduct the orchestra before guest conductors come in for our concerts."

A particularly special member of both the BCO and Jini's family, multi-instrumentalist Alannah Fernandes, the BCO violist, met her mentor as an 8-year-old. They went on to share a uniquely close relationship - "From teacher-student to friends to a bond stronger than family. We chose each other. I cared deeply for her and she, me," says Fernandes, who formed the vital core of vulnerable Dinshaw's "bubble" during COVID, cooking, cleaning and cutting her hair through the pandemic months.

Dinshaw's mantra - "Life goes on" - remains uppermost in Fernandes' mind. "She said this regardless of facing multiple problem situations we did not see coming, whether on the home front or the orchestra. With her religious bent, she always got what she prayed for. We'd even manage a full house when the previous evening showed only half the hall tickets gone. I really miss her companionship."

Describing her beloved teacher in an article in the Jam-e-Jamshed newspaper, designer Shazneen Engineer writes: "To me, she was this magical woman, moving with electric purpose in immaculately tailored pastel co-ords… driving her baby blue Fiat Premier 118 NE into her 90s. Caring little for money, she charged a nominal fee, often needing to be reminded of it. Life came full circle when she began teaching my son. Today, at 14, Kiyaan is a student at the Symphony Orchestra of India Academy, playing the French horn."

Violin teacher Edsel Pereira says, "Ms Jini took me on to complete my LTCL [Licentiate of Trinity College London] at short notice. That exam was just a small opening into the enchanting world of orchestral music. I cherish her words, ‘Always look to the depths of the emotion of a musical work', and her understanding and sharing of nuances of pieces, especially works by Brahms." And Bomi Billimoria says, "Teaching till she was 92, Jini leaves an indelible legacy that the BCO will strive to continue, with her guiding spirit as the inspiration behind all we do."

The Palkhivala family

Shalom Palkhivala, Multi-instrumentalist

Shalom Palkhivala on his mentor's 92nd birthday

‘I learnt the violin with Ms Jini. After a few concerts with the BCO, she suggested I take up the viola. Then, Ms Jini asked whether I'd play the oboe. Unprepared and uninformed, I started learning with an old orchestra instrument, largely dependent on foreign oboists visiting for technical training. For seven years since I left for studies to Germany, I've played oboe and violin with two to four orchestras weekly. I have also taken up the English horn and played solo oboe and English horn with orchestras in concerts and competitions. I was fortunate to come back and play with the BCO, also with orchestra colleagues from Germany. It all goes back to that unexpected phone call from Ms Jini: ‘Will Shalom play the oboe?''

Shihan Palkhivala, Clarinet player

‘Every Saturday morning Jini Aunty made music enjoyable, motivating youngsters to learn all kinds of instruments. Her Orff lessons got me interested in the clarinet, which I played for 12 years.'

Ferriel Palkhivala, Mother of Shalom and Shihan, cello student

‘Jini taught Orff classes in a gentle, fun way but developing a strong musical foundation in five-year-olds. I took up the cello mainly for love of Jini and wanting to be taught by her, after years of watching her teach my children. With indomitable spirit and fierce determination, she filled the needs of the BCO, uncannily matching a child with an instrument.'

The Billimoria family

Farhad Billimoria, Violinist

Violinist Farhad Billimoria and flutist Dilshad Posnock flank Dinshaw

‘Jini was my first violin teacher. When I was finally ready to play in the orchestra, she encouraged me to join the viola section, where players were most needed. This diversity, the ability to switch between instruments, enriched my musical training. When she arranged for me to take part in the International Chamber Music Festival in Austria, I was granted leave from school only because the principal happened to see me play in the BCO that weekend. This life-changing trip opened the path for me to become a professional musician. Jini holds a special place in my heart.'

Dilshad Posnock, Flutist

‘When my brother Farhad started violin lessons with Jini, she knew I was intrigued by the opportunity he would have to play in an orchestra and came up with the idea that I learn a wind instrument. I picked the flute. Thanks to the BCO, I had lessons with visiting musicians. Those early connections to musicians at the Royal College of Music are the reason I have a career in music. I will always be grateful for Jini's passion and pioneering spirit, a gift to so many generations of musicians.'

Bomi Billimoria, Father of Farhad and Dilshad, Former BCO timpanist

‘The orchestra abounds in instances of siblings and parents performing together. Both my children played in the BCO long before I was roped in. When the orchestra needed a timpanist, knowing I was a trained pianist, Jini presented me with eight photocopied pages from a percussion training manual, urging me to learn to play timpani! At 47, I taught myself the instrument - one of my life's most rewarding experiences.'