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Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,
I am delighted to welcome you on this special occasion.
Representing the Premchand family, I am honoured to be here before you, to commemorate with you the 100th death anniversary of my great-grandfather, Premchand Roychand. Today, we inaugurate an exhibition addressing his life and times, covering the second half of the 19th century. This was the era when this extraordinary city, Mumbai, was transformed from an “Isle of Palms” into the “City of Gold”.
The “Bombay Bonanza” exhibition – and the city was known in the English language as Bombay in those days – is the wonderful creation of Dr. Kalpana Desai, the Director of this Museum, which to me will always be known as the Prince of Wales Museum. With her team, especially Joseph St. Anne, she has been able to bring to life, for you, this extraordinary period of Mumbai’s history.
Whereas we have sponsored this exhibition, through our family firm which Premchand Roychand founded in 1856, the exhibition is dedicated also to those men – and some women – who were instrumental in making Bombay the magnet that it has been ever since the 1850s.
Dr. Desai asked me whether we wanted the exhibition to be focused only on Premchand Roychand. My reaction was that if I would not be interested in going to an exhibition about another person, (with a narrow focus), why would anybody else seek to come to ours? This dialogue resulted in extensive brainstorming, over many months, during which the idea for the exhibition was conceived, more in vitro than in vivo! We thank and congratulate Dr. Desai on the fascinating, compact and attractive exhibition.
There is more to relish. Sharada Dwivedi has written a biography of Premchand Roychand for us. Sharada Dwivedi, known to many here as the modern-day historian of Bombay, has produced a beautiful book, which will be released today. This is – in her words – a modest book for a modest man! And although the book is modest in dimension, it does a wonderful job of communicating to the reader the modesty, simplicity, humility and tenacity of one of the great figures of that era.
Also, today, the Mumbai Postal Authorities will be releasing a Special Cover, to commemorate this day and this exhibition. We are greatly honoured to have with us today the Principal Chief Post Master General of Mumbai.
The Premchand family embarked on this proactive commemoration of the founder of our business house for two main reasons:
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Firstly, little is known about Premchand Roychand, other than the analogy that many (inappropriately) bring to bear between him and the Big Bull of speculation of more recent times. An essential difference is that Premchand Roychand repaid his obligations. Moreover, his many contributions to charities, his munificence as regards the Universities of Mumbai and Calcutta, his support of many of the other important stages in the building of Bombay as a modern city, all need to be reported, remembered and recognised.
This exhibition serves this purpose, within the broad perspective of the “Bombay Bonanza”, and represents a summarisation of the many facets of Premchand Roychand’s legacy towards the city. During the exhibition, there will be viewings at regular intervals of the film made by Zafar Hai entitled “The Merchant Princes of Bombay”, a film that addresses four specific lives of this same period; one of those men selected by Zafar was Premchand Roychand.
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And secondly, we believe that it is important to remind this present generation of how substantial this contribution of yesteryear by these and other Merchant Princes of that era was – and how important this contribution is to the ongoing life of this city.
Whereas both the exhibition and the film speak for themselves, in each instance there is a powerful communication (entertainingly reflecting a deeply-rooted sense of history) of the importance of this period of Bombay’s history to the Mumbai of today.
But this fascinating slice of the great past of this city tenders the unasked question – “what next?”.
Two years ago, on the occasion of the premier of the film made by Zafar Hai, I raised this question. I quote from my comments on that date:
What new institutions do we need, and which old
institutions need resurrection, financial
resuscitation and revitalisation?
Have we abrogated this responsibility? The Merchant
Princes did not!
I also reminded the audience of a comment made by the late Jomo Kenyatta who stated that:
“Our children may learn about the heroes of the
past.
Our task is to make ourselves architects of the
future”.
This task underpins any such activity of communication. Architects build structures – as we must build institutions – for the future
I recognise that my comments are drawing into the evening hours. But I cannot end without expressing my thanks and those of my family to various persons:
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Dr. Kalpanaben Desai – not only as the Director of the Museum – but also as a dear friend of this family has been a powerful influence in establishing, determining and guiding all of us in respect of this portrayal of this era, where Bombay did enjoy its Bonanza!
There is a wonderful statement in her introduction to the book on the biography of Premchand Roychand in which she states that it is said that Premchand Roychand, who repaid all his obligations, repaid the poorest first – and the British last! And both she & my great-grandfather had a twinkle in their eyes when this was uttered!
The humour with which she has dealt with the itinerant Premchands and with the inevitable difficulties of mounting any exhibition anywhere have made it a particular pleasure to be associated with this Museum, on this second joint venture directed at helping the youth of this city learn something of its past.
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To Sharada Dwivedi, the author of the biography, to which I referred a moment ago, I extend our deepest thanks for translating an idea into a labour of love, with a flawless execution. She has created a marvellous, modest work. As I said earlier, a modest book for a modest man!
I have never stopped being amazed at her resourcefulness in garnering material and motivating us in the family to look for documents that we never knew we had, and for the treasure trove of photographs that emerged from our various archives.
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And I wish to thank my wife, Neeta Premchand, who – apart from providing a significant contribution in terms of creative thought and her usual, sensible direction in both these endeavours – did the hard work of combing through volumes of ancient materials, to sort the wheat from the chaff. This resulted in much “chaff” being atomised into her nasal & ocular passages, over many difficult days in rather unpleasant and difficult environments. But her typically singe-minded determination – occasionally honed with stubbornness – did result in much that is visible today in the exhibition and recorded today in Sharada’s book.
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I thank Julio Rebeiro for accepting our invitation to be our Chief Guest today, reminding me that if one wants something done, – just ask one of the busiest men in Bombay! We asked Julio not only for his eminence, but also because he has an extraordinary respect for the City that we all love so dearly. And this exhibition reminds us that greatness in cities results from both physical & intangible investments.
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The Vice Chancellor of the University of Mumbai is here with us today, to mark the importance of Premchand Roychand’s contribution to his University. And the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta has sent a Premchand Roychand scholar to represent his University.
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During my conversation with Prof. Banerjee, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta, I concluded that there could perhaps be some interest on your part in learning what the benefit of being a Premchand Roychand scholar is today. You will learn in brief – but in tangible-terms what this Award has meant to a relatively young recipient, who has used the opportunity of this Award to better his intellectual life. We are greatly honoured that Prof. Dr. Manna has agreed to come to us to release Sharada’s book, and to comment on the meaning that Premchand Roychand’s munificence has had as regards his life.
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And I would like to thank Mrs. K. Noorjehan, Mumbai’s Principal Chief Post Master General, both for agreeing to prepare a Special Postal Cover to mark this occasion, and for making available her valuable time to be with us today to personally release the Cover.
Ladies & Gentlemen:
"Every man is a damn fool for at least five
minutes every day; wisdom consists in not
exceeding the limit."
This statement by Albert Hubbard has merit. I have exceeded my limit of time, but I hope not in a manner that is excessively foolish!
Thank you for your attention.
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