Want to know more about history of Mumbai and India? This book exhibition is the place to be

There is a treat in store for bibliophiles and fans of natural history at Premchand Roychand Gallery of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS The venue is currently displaying books from the late 18th century to 1947 as part of the 10th Rare Books Exhibition Hidden Hands in Colonial Natural Histories The finds include records left behind by the colonial artists as well as preserved documents that highlight the cultural architectural and geographical makeup of India at the time ldquoWersquove been holding these exhibitions since 1993rdquo shares Dr Ashok Kothari chairman at the Library Committee of the Bombay Natural History Society BNHSDr Pheroza Godrej takes a tour of the exhibition with Dr KothariWhile on the tour with Kothari we spot editions of National Geographic magazines from 1926 and the 1940s editions of the Illustrated Weekly of India ldquoAt the time the British and the Maharajas managed these collectionsrdquo In one of the photographs we spot a creek ferry boat linking islands to the mainland Next we are shown the dinner menu of the Taj Mahal Hotel from 1952 and those from the steamers We also find a copy of Modern Bombay and her Patriotic Citizens opened to a blackandwhite photograph of the Bhatia BaugA collection of Bombay Courier editions at the exhibitionMounted on the walls are prints of the artworks studied by researchers under the McGill University project ldquoThis projectrsquos effort is onethird of the exhibition Onethird is by the BNHS and onethird is Dr Kotharirsquos collectionrdquo explains Mrinal Kapadia founder of India Visual Art Archive and one of the contributors to the project The project was initiated by the McGill University Montreal with the purpose of uncovering unacknowledged hands that contributed to the natural history artwork generated from this era ldquoAt times the labour to provide information and material was supplied by indigenous people servants and local guidesThe university received a threeyear grant to study thisrdquoThe McGill exhibition features historical artworks of native flora and fauna from across the cityAmong the artwork the most prominent one in the gallery is of James Forbes the British artist ldquoHersquos important because he was one of the earliest to visually document the flora and fauna of India particularly Western India and Bombayrsquos first resident artistrdquo shares Kapadia Keeping with the theme of natural history the BNHS team invited Dr Pheroza Godrej environmentalist art historian and founder of Cymroza Art Gallery for the inaugurationVisitor reccosgtgt Oriental Memoirs by James Forbes I love natural history and prints and James Forbes itrsquos a combination I think thatrsquos why they invited me they know my special interests Irsquom impressed by the research some of them are even Indians like Vikram Bhatt who chose the print with the palankeen palanquinDr Pheroza Godrej art historian and guest of honourDr Ashok Kotharigtgt Bombay Gazette and Bombay Courier What I liked most were the archives of the previous articles from the Bombay newspapers Bombay Gazette and Bombay Courier Itrsquos from the time before Independence I also liked the books from Dr Kotharirsquos collectionAnwesha Sirvee studentgtgt 18th Century maps These books are very nostalgic they take you in the past Some of these are handpainted I was looking at the collection of maps of India on display people usually donrsquot know what India looked like in the 18th century When you look at these you learn about the real India at the timeDeenanath Kamath advocategtgt Indian birds and ducks by John Gould and EC Stuart Baker We liked the maps because they were created before Indiarsquos Independence I also liked the collection of rare birds that we werenrsquot aware of we particularly liked their colours The vintage collection of books is also specialTejal Chaudhari software engineergtgt Bombayrsquos Mazagaon mango and the purpleeyed butterfly It is tough to pinpoint a favourite piece from the exhibition If I had to highlight one it would be the print of the Mazagaon mango of Bombay accompanied with a distinct butterfly Now if only I could taste that mangoNabilah Ladhabhoy former student of McGill UniversityTill December 22 1030 am to 530 pmAt Premchand Roychand Gallery CSMVS 159161 Mahatma Gandhi Road FortEntry Rs 150 Museum entry ticket