Hallo, half-century

In January 1970 Noshir Daruwala had no idea what he was getting into when he switched jobs He joined the GoetheInsitut a nonprofit German cultural association in the administration department and stayed for over 25 years Now as the institute commences its 50 years celebrations the 82yearold sits down for an interview at their Kala Ghoda office And hes here with not only an idea but also a deep understanding of his former workplace and its relationship with the city and our country at largeNoshir DaruwalaGoing uphillNamed after the German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe the institutes India centres are called Max Mueller Bhavans MMB in honour of the indologist It came to Mumbai on December 2 1968 Helmed by Heimo Rau and Dirk Angelroth it occupied the ground floor of philanthropist Bapsy Sabavalas bungalow at Malabar Hill and conducted German language classes After being officially inaugurated the following year it forayed into cultural activities too With the image of Sabavala sitting on a majestic chair with a stick by the entrance etched in his memory Daruwala recalls the programming of the old days We had inhouse concerts film shows and exhibitions So you had Zakir Hussain performing in the directors room which could accommodate about 60 people We also had Lalita Lajmi exhibit her worksMalabar Hill in 1969 the year the Goethe Institut was formally inaugurated whilst situated in Bapsy Sabavalas bungalowAround the same time the institute also began its association with Jini Dinshaw the founder of the Bombay Chamber Orchestra BCO and donated oboes the double bass and a piano to them In 1972 they relocated to their current location in the CSMVS Museum annexe In 76 the director Joachim Buehler who was trained in classical music began conducting the BCO while his wife Situ Singh sang in the choir Daruwala sharesThe Max Mueller Bhavan moved into its current Kala Ghoda office in 1972 PicsAshish RaneCity spotlightAn important project took shape under Georg Lechner Named East West Encounters it comprised collaborations with renowned dancers Chandralekha Astaad Deboo Susanna Linke as well as artists In 1993 architect Rahul Mehrotra suggested a workshop on urban conservation to director Anna Winterberg titled Conserving an Image Centre This initiative ultimately resulted in Indias first urban conservation legislation with the Fort area being declared a conservation zone And in 98 after years of being the handyman Daruwala retired and started a business though he still maintains an enthusiastic association with MMBSusan Link and Astaad Deboo and Susan Link performing at EastWest Encounters Pics CourtesyMax Mueller Bhavan MumbaiWhatever the scenario a key quality attributed to MMB Mumbai is its ability to make things work Marla Stukenberg the current director of the GoetheInstitut Korea who served as the director in the city between 2008 to 2013 recalls a demanding task A concert by the famous Ensemble Modern and an openair dinner at the NCPA was planned But a typhoon alert she says caused the venue to shut its doors Dont ask me how but the MMB team within very few hours managed to redirect all guests to our institute scaled down the concert to a smaller presentation in our library and rearranged the complete dinner at a restaurant in Kala Ghoda By the way finally the typhoon opted to change its direction and let off steam over the sea We had a great eveningLooking aheadThe golden jubilee celebrations kickstarted yesterday the weekend will see the opening of a solo exhibition by Nalini Malini a video mapping evening as well as a concert by Alif and Ulrike Almut SandigA class in the language lab in 1973With festival planning already underway Bjoumlrn Ketels joined MMB Mumbai as the director in March this year after serving in Munich Sri Lanka and Sudan After visiting the city in 1997 on a backpacking trip he says It felt like home very quickly The 43yearold states a clear vision during his tenure here with three focus areas Although arts and technology and sustainability and ecology remain key themes Ketels is also looking to focus on musical activism He adds We dont want to look at it from a perspective of genres as much as the artists their intentions and how theyre trying to make the world a better placeBjorn Ketels Pic Akshay Sawant1968German language classes by the GoetheInstitut began at Malabar HillLOG ON TO wwwgoethedeinsinenstamumhtml for the anniversary programmeCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates